Desire
by EchoSerenade
Summary: "Let me go!" I shouted, trying to wrench my arms away from the two men who were dragging me into their car. "Let me go! I haven't done anything!" Connor/OC Simon/OC
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

I stared blankly at the body in front of me. There was so much blood. And the scream…

It was bloodcurdling.

How could this have happened?

The day had gone so well. I just received a promotion and we were going to go out to celebrate.

Why?

The sound of sirens quickly approached. The blue and red lights flashed through the window and consumed the room.

"Artie…" He reached for me.

"No! Leave!" I shouted, pushing him away. "If they find you, they'll kill you!"

"I cannot die because I am not alive. I do not feel pain." Even as he said this, he had an uncertain look on his face. "Artemisia…"

I pushed him, again. "Don't lie to me. I told you to always be honest. You're scared. You're just as scared as I am and that's okay… I always knew that there was more to you than just being a mindless drone. You're alive. You can feel emotions and you deserve to live."

"I cannot – "

" _Police! Open the door!"_

"If you continue to deny it, then obey this: _Leave and never come back_!"

 _"Open the door! We know you're in there!"_

Knowing that he was trapped, he finally gave me one last look before running out that back door just as two men broke through the front.

Spotting me right beside the deceased, they immediately seized my arms and pulled me down. Three more officers ran in with their guns pointed at me.

"Let me go!" I shouted, trying to wrench my arms away from the two men who were dragging me into their car. "Let me go! I haven't done anything!"

"You are under arrest for the murder of Lina Sanchez!" Two cold cuffs clamped down on my wrists.

"I didn't murder her! I haven't done _anything_!" I shouted, again, but it was useless. They weren't listening. "It wasn't me!"

I sobbed as the door slammed closed.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Mum, I told you that I'm not leaving here," I groaned, about to toss my phone out the window. "I'll be alright, okay? Besides, Simon is here with me. Everything will be fine."

" **Simon**?!" she shrieked. "You're staying with a boy?! What are you thinking? You're going to get raped! I won't allow this. Get home, _right this instant_!"

I rolled my eyes. "No, mum. Simon is an android. He's not going to do anything to me."

"An android? Where did you get the money for that?" She seemed to have calmed down, but was still skeptical about the whole idea of me living in Detroit by myself. I could also tell that she probably thought I was doing something shady for money.

"I told you I found a good job here. I got it after saving up for three months!" I told her. "I like it here. Can't you just be happy for me?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry, baby. It's hard not seeing you every day. Be safe, okay? I promise I'll get used to it eventually, but if you ever feel homesi – "

"Thanks, mum," I cut her off and hung up.

I turned to Simon who was standing beside the couch. "You should be happy that you'll never have to meet her or else she will nag you, until you short circuit."

"My wiring will be fine. Words cannot harm them," he stated.

My lips quirked into a smile. It was so amusing that they could take things so literally. "Come on, want to go out for a walk? It's my day off and I don't want to waste it indoors."

He nodded. "I only want what you want."

It was nice having an android who listened to everything and did everything that was asked of them, but sometimes, it'd be great if they could hold better conversations.

"Your keys, Artie." He held them out to me.

I smiled at him. "Thanks! I nearly forgot. It'd be bad if I left without them."

We had a slow, peaceful walk to the park where the kids were screaming and laughing at the playground.

I took a seat on the bench and waited for him to do the same, but he remained standing. "Sit down." I patted the seat beside me.

He did as he was told.

Leaning my head on his shoulder, I closed my eyes. The soft breeze was relaxing. The leaves rustling began to lull me into a sleep-like state. This was one of my favourite things to do when I could finally pull away from work. Sure, it paid well and the benefits package could not be beat, but it was stressful and rather depressing.

"Are you cold?" he quietly asked.

"No," I mumbled. "You're warm enough."

He was always at a very pleasant temperature.

It was days like these that washed away all the carnage I had to witness every day. It made moving across the globe worthwhile.

Suddenly, I fell to the side. My eyes snapped open to see Simon on the ground. There was a burst of laughter as a dirty boot collided with his side.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" I shouted, pushing the aggressor away, but another grabbed me, holding me away as they continued to hit Simon. "Stop! You're hurting him!"

They sneered at me. "Plastic toys can't feel anything! It's people like you who are the problem! You hire these emotionless fuckers and people who actually deserve the job are pushed aside!"

"Simon!" I twisted around and kneed the man holding me before covering Simon's body with mine. The steel-toed boot dug into my side, causing me to cry out.

A second swift kick hit its mark before someone tried to intervene. "Hey! Hey! What is going on here?!"

I was breathing heavily as an officer finally came towards us.

The trio scampered off, while I continued to lie on top of Simon. What had just happened?

"Are you okay?" The officer crouched down, looking at me with concern. "You shouldn't have tried to protect it with your body. Androids are expendable. If we catch the perpetrators, you won't even have to pay for the repairs."

"I'm fine," I panted, frowning at how even the officer thought that hurting Simon was alright. If I hadn't tried to intervene with my own body, would he have even looked this way?

With a nod, the officer walked away.

When I tried to get up, I couldn't help but wince. Work tomorrow was going to be Hell. At least it didn't seem like anything was broken.

I gave Simon a thorough look over, as well. "Are you okay? They were going pretty hard at it." It seemed that his clothes had taken most of the damage. Everything else appeared alright.

"Artie, you shouldn't have tried to protect me. I do not feel pain. I am much more durable than human flesh. I should give you a proper assessment of your injuries." He began to lift up my shirt, but I quickly stopped him.

"Not here. Let's go home first. They're all still staring at us," I mumbled.

Who knew that even on such a good day, there were people running around ruining them for everyone else? Not only that, none of the onlookers were particularly interested in helping. All they did was stare and record with their phone as if we were some sort of entertainment for them.

Half way through the painfully long trek, I had to take a break. My side was really bothering me. It was so tender and each step forward was agony.

"I believe it is beneficial for me to carry you the rest of the way," was all he said before he scooped me into his arms and carried us the rest of the way home.

I leaned my head on his chest with a heavy sigh. "Thanks, Simon. Do you need a trip to the repair shop? I can get you a thorough check up at Cyberlife…"

"I will give myself a full system scan, but initial diagnosis informs me that I shall require no repairs," he replied, smiling down pleasantly at me.

"Mm…" My eyes fluttered closed, relaxing against him.

I suddenly jolted awake when the door opened and the alarm signalled that someone was entering the house.

"I apologise for waking you," he immediately said.

I blinked blearily back at him. "It's fine. It wasn't your fault. Thank you for carrying me back."

As soon as the door was locked and he gently laid me down on the couch, he began to lift up the side of my shirt, again. Instinctively, I grabbed his wrist, staring at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing?" In my short doze, I had briefly forgotten what had happened.

He smiled. "You said that I should check the damages after we return home. I am merely complying with your wishes."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Those were definitely not my exact words."

"No, but it is to our benefit that we check your body for any injuries. Because you cannot diagnose yourself, it is imperative that I take a look and make sure that there are no internal haemorrhages."

I tried to argue with him, but after a few minutes, I realised that it was no use. He had a point. It was better that he checked me out, now.

My eyes watched him as he scrutinised the darkened spot on my side. The normally calming blue LED turned a fast blinking burnt yellow, verging on red. He continued staring and I noted how his hand just hovered mere centimetres away from my skin.

"Simon?" I whispered.

For a few seconds, the LED flashed red before it slowly went back to yellow and then, blue. "Just a contusion. The capillaries will clog back up and your body will reabsorb the blood. If it takes longer than a few days to clear, perhaps it is advantageous for me to procure some iron tablets for you."

"It shouldn't be necessary, but we'll jump through that hurdle if we need to," I told him, stretching as exhaustion made my eyes droop. "Don't bother with dinner, today. I don't think I have an appetite for anything."

"You need a good portion of iron-rich foods to – "

"Shh," I cut him off. "All I need is sleep, right now. You may do whatever you wish for the rest of the day. No need to ask me anything."


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

The first thing he did when she fell asleep was to carry her upstairs to her room. It seemed that she wanted to be left alone on the couch, but that would be bad for her back and she _did_ allow him freedom to do whatever he wished.

Once she was tucked beneath her covers, he walked out. Without the need to prepare dinner, he wasn't sure what to do with himself, so he walked around the house, doing everything he would usually do when she was slumbering.

Each room was thoroughly dusted and tidied. Her clothes were placed into the washer and programmed to do a full rotation. Books were placed back into their proper places – sorted by title as she liked it, instead of the traditional surname of authors. By modern standards, she had a very vast library of paper literature. It was quite impressive. From what she told him, most of these actually came from her mother who was a lover of books. She merely enlarged the collection, until it filled an entire room.

In the bathroom, he sanitised the toilet, sink, and bathtub. He took out fresh linen and placed it over the horizontal bar. He made sure that the toothpaste could easily be squeezed out of its tube before clearing the hairbrush of broken strands.

He moved on to the pantry to update the stock count and expiry dates. He was going to have to purchase more eggs and cheese. Everything else was satisfactory.

With a small nod, he left the house to do just that. This was normally something he'd do while she was at work, but it was still early and the shops were still opened.

The trip was short. He walked purposefully past the protests and counter-protests. He avoided all the preachers and ignored all the insults. From what he could research, he knew that this was typical human behaviour throughout the centuries, but he didn't understand why humans would waste their time being so unproductive.

At the shop, he selected her favourite brands and went up to the counter, quickly finalising the exchange.

Passing by the same groups of people, he had to sidestep a splash of alcohol from hitting him. She would not be pleased if he came back drenched.

"What, too good to pay attention to us, now?!" one of them shouted, tossing the cup towards him, as well, but he easily dodged it.

"No," he simply replied. "I am an android. I only do what is required of me."

"Buuuullshiiiiit!" the man slurred. His companion let out a giggle and pushed him away to avoid the counter-protestors who were already making their way over.

They asked if he was alright and he replied as he always did. "I am fully functional. Nothing has been damaged. Thank you for your concern."

Eventually returning back to the pantry, he placed the products into their rightful spots in the fridge.

It was only midnight when he completed all his tasks. There were six more hours before he was to awaken her for work.

He sat on the couch for five minutes, running through a full system scan to make sure that the encounters had left no traces on him. Indeed, his initial calculations were correct.

Queuing up the task to inform his owner later, he made his way to the library and touched the spine of one of the books. They had no purpose for him because he could easily access all the literature that he wanted from his own database, but he found himself drawn to the fragile sheets of paper. Taking one out, he opened it to look at the yellow-edged pages.

He felt the slightly uneven texture of the paper, barely detectable to humans.

Sitting down, he gently flipped through the text. His eyes scanned each line quickly, until it stopped half way through the novel. Why had he betrayed her? Shouldn't their love be enough to sustain the relationship?

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

 __He stopped. What was he doing? Androids did not indulge in frivolous pastimes.

After placing the book back, he went up to her room and stood by the bed, watching her sleep. Her nose crinkled and her eyes moved quickly behind her eyelids. A soft groan left her lips and a frown marred her normally smooth countenance.

She was having a nightmare.

What was it like to dream? What was it like to sleep? When he closed his eyes and put himself into standby mode, he experienced… nothing. He was a mere shell with memories filed neatly in his storage unit. It was...

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

He stopped, again.

Why were these strange questions popping up? It did not matter if he dreamt. Androids had no use for sleep. They were powered through thirium 310. He was not built to be curious. He was built to perform domestic tasks.

He ran another maintenance scan on himself, but couldn't find anything. This was strange. Perhaps he should bring up the subject of repairs, again, to her. A trip to Cyberlife could do him some good. They would have the equipment to check if there was something wrong with him. If he was no longer qualified to serve her…

He didn't want to be replaced, but he didn't want to be a burden. He had to be fixed.

Hovering just above her, he watched as she let out a soft sigh, turning her head towards him. Her long locks fell in front of her face. He reached out his hand and gently brushed it away. Just like before, he wanted to touch her soft skin, but he made sure that the only contact made were on the strands of hair.

He wasn't quite sure what would happen if he actually touched her. It wasn't as if he hadn't done so before, but this time it seemed… different.

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

"Mmm," she hummed.

He tilted his head. What was she dreaming of?

"Mum… stop… yelling at… me…" she mumbled, scrunching up her eyebrows.

He slowly straightened his back once more, a smile on his face.

He may only be a housekeeper, but he wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt her like they did, today. He was going to protect her whatever the cost.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

When I next woke up, I was in my own bed with the covers tucked beneath my chin. It took me a moment to remember what had happened yesterday and when I did, I found it difficult to get my head around it.

How could they be so cruel? How could they allow their own anger and hatred to cloud what it meant to be human – to show empathy and compassion?

"Simon?" I mumbled.

"Yes?"

I gasped, not realising that he had been in the room. "A-Are you okay?"

"Yes. I have done a complete scan of my system and everything is mostly in functional order," he told me.

I frowned. "I'll bring you with me to Cyberlife, today. I don't want the damage to persist."

"Yes, that will be very helpful," he replied. "But there is no rush. I am in no dire need of attention."

I let out a breath of relief. "I'm glad… But I still can't believe what happened, yesterday. How could they just attack us in broad daylight like that?"

"There have been many media coverage regarding a revolt from the humans," he said. "Homelessness is at an all time high and the anger has to be directed somewhere, but they are not entirely incorrect. Androids are much more efficient. We do not tire or feel pain. That is why more and more companies are hiring androids and not humans."

"Yeah… Yeah… But that doesn't give them a reason to hurt you or any other androids. It's not your fault that that is happening!" I ran my hand through my messy hair. "This is madness…"

He smiled gently at me. "You should not stress over this situation."

Not understanding how he could be so uncaring about it, I shook my head and decided to let it go. It was an android thing.

"It is time to get out of bed, Artie," he said. "Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes."

…

I placed my hand on the sensor and entered the building. Even after being here for a few months, it was still rather intimidating. Everything was so sleek and clean. Androids far over-numbered the humans. I couldn't believe that I had really gotten a job to work here.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the ST300 model asked.

"I'm wondering if I could have my android checked-up later. There was an incident yesterday and I'm afraid that he's been injured," I told her.

She nodded before turning her eyes to Simon who looked back at her. Their eyes fluttered, signalling that they were temporarily connected. "A room will be ready for the PL600 model after your shift."

"Thank you." I smiled at her, taking Simon by the hand as I went into the elevator. "Sorry, Simon. You'll just have to stay with me the entire day. I won't be able to get you in and out before the appointment."

"That will be fine. I do not mind waiting in your office," he replied.

I entered my office and groaned at the amount of paperwork already piled high on the desk. Didn't they have androids for this? I really hadn't applied this job to read poorly written text blocks.

Then again, I'd rather have this job than none, at all, especially since it paid so well.

An hour in, I leaned back, stretching my arms above my head. A soft groan of pain escaped my lips. It was going to be a while before the bruises were going to go away.

Suddenly, Simon's face filled my vision. "Are you feeling alright, Artie?" His LED flashed a slow yellow.

"Yes," I told him. "Just a little sore still, but I'll be fine."

"Hey, are you done with the files, yet? Mr. Graff has been waiting all morning for them!" Without knocking, the blonde haired woman with bright red-rimmed glasses entered the room. "I don't see why he insists on hiring people like you. You have no work or life experience, no connections, no hope…"

"That is incorrect. Artemisia graduated at the top of her class with two years of internship before she was hired at Cyberlife," Simon informed her. His LED flashed yellow.

"But she can't even control an old, outdated android like you," she sneered back.

I sighed. "Lina, what do you want?" Each time I see her, she was always antagonising me. I couldn't have her do the same with Simon. He was, after all, just stating the facts.

She huffed. "As I said… You've been taking too long doing simple paperwork – no wonder that's all he allows you to touch – and I took it upon myself to check up on your progress. Just because you're slacking off, doesn't mean I am."

"Surely, you have something better to do than come all the way here to make sure I was not _slacking off_." I shifted another document over to the rejection side.

"It seems that your presence is actually decreasing her productivity," Simon stated. "This is a conflict of interest."

"Just shut up!" she growled. "Why are you even here? Does Mr. Graft know? If not, I'm definitely going to tell him."

"Go ahead," I sighed, rubbing my temple. At this point, I'd be happy with almost anything as long as she left.

Noticing that I didn't seem to be putting much effort into this "conversation," she turned back to Simon. "I can see why someone like her would have an old piece of trash like you, aside from the fact that she can't afford anything better, of course."

I grit my teeth. "Please, leave. Let me do my job before I tell Mr. Graff that you are the reason I am late. He wouldn't be very happy about that." My hand hovered on the phone as I stared at her.

Turning her nose at me, she finally twisted on her red heels, clacking loudly the entire way down the hall.

A puff of air escaped my lips. "I'm sorry, Simon. You really didn't deserve that. If I knew she was going to come here, I would've had you wait elsewhere, but… I preferred you here with me."

He smiled. "There is no need to apologise. Her words did not mean anything to me. She should not, however, have said all those things about you. They were crudely inaccurate."

I reached to the side to give his hand a squeeze. "Thanks, Simon."

An hour later, I had all the paperwork ready. I didn't recall Mr. Graff giving me a deadline for these, but it was probably best to give them to him before I proved Lina right.

His office was five floors above mine, at the very top of Cyberlife Tower with all the other executives. It was a little strange being there because there were _many_ people like Lina working here. They undermined those in lower positions, but we were the ones who did the most work and who knew most about this business. Many of these executives spent their time laughing and relaxing at the over-extravagant lounge areas.

Standing in front of his door, I took in a deep breath and knocked.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Come in."

I gently opened the door, trying my best to make sure that all the paper stayed neat in my arms. "Mr. Graff, I apologise for how long this has taken me."

As I placed the paperwork on his desk, he waved me off. "This is faster than I expected anyone to finish, but never mind that. I have something more important to tell you." He took out a familiar folder that made my heart race.

"Have you read through it, sir?" I whispered.

"Indeed." He leaned forward. There was a pause of silence. The sound of the clock echoed loudly as I held my breath. "I believe I haven't heard such a well thought out plan for a while, now. In fact, I have already told our engineers that you will be heading the project. I expect nothing but perfect. Don't make me regret this decision."

My eyes were impossibly wide and it took a while for me to stop gaping to profusely thank him. "I won't fail you, I swear!"

He smiled. "Good. I hope you like coffee because you will be having many long nights."

Coffee made me twitchy, but that probably wasn't much different from how I was, now. My entire body was thrumming with energy. Somehow, I was able to contain my excitement, until I reached my office.

I firmly shut the door before letting out a loud squeal, throwing my arms around Simon. "I did it! He liked my proposal!"

He returned the embrace. "I am very happy for you. Would you like me to make anything special for you for dinner?"

"We can go out to eat, today! I heard that there's a really nice restaurant not too far away. We can go there to celebrate!" I looked up to smile happily at him.

He smiled back, but his LED briefly turned red, again. I touched it, worried that he was truly going to end up breaking down, soon. He said his diagnosis came up with nothing, but Lani was right about something, he was an older model. He wasn't as equipped as some of the other androids.

I took a step back, away from him to give him a thorough look over. Outwardly, he was perfect. There were no signs of damage that could've occurred from yesterday. What if they had damaged his scanner?

Once I got a hang of android engineering myself, I was going to be able to take a look myself. As it were, there was still a lot of learning I had to do. The internship never really prepared me for something quite as big as this. If I messed up, I was probably going to get fired or be stuck with paperwork for the rest of my life. I really didn't know what was worse.

"Come on, I'm going to take a look at the lab. Maybe I'll introduce myself to the rest of them." I was pretty nervous about this, but I was also excited to start the project.

He nodded his head, following me down to the lab.

I couldn't believe that this was really happening. I had dreamt about this for so long. Ever since I was in high school, I kept seeing reports on androids being built. And now, I was a part of it.

When the elevator opened, I saw a clean, metal room full of androids and parts and other engineers all in uniforms. I felt strangely out of place with the white blouse and black pencil skirt.

My eyes looked around. I was awestruck.

"Miss Artemisia, are you here to commence the project?" a WG700 model asked.

"No, not yet. I'm just going to look around, today," I told him.

"Very well. I can give you a tour if that is what you desire."

I shook my head. "I'll call you if I need any help."

I walked to the table where an android was being worked on. "Hi, I'm Artemisia. Mr. Graff – "

"I know who you are," he grumbled back without even looking at me. "Just because he made you in charge of the next project, doesn't mean that I accept you as the boss, so back off."

I blinked. I should've expected the cold reception, but I had been so excited. "I admit that I'm not as experienced as you, but we both want the same thing – a successful project. I promise that I won't be in your way and I'm a fast learner."

He didn't say anything back to me, so I backed away.

"Hi, I'm Arte – "

She walked away.

I tried several more times before finally resigning to defeat. They weren't going to talk to me because I was new, so I turned to the wall of androids, instead. They were all on standby, waiting to be repaired.

One of them looked as if she had been shot in the face. She was fortunate that she was still repairable. Out of all of them, the WR400 sustained the most damage. "What happened to you?" I whispered. I couldn't imagine what she had done to deserve something like this. The WR400 model's sole purpose was to provide sexual tasks. It wasn't in her nature to be violent.

"Do you want me to stand in line with the rest of them?" Simon asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure if they'll be helping me much, today, so I'm going to do the scans myself."

I took him over to an unoccupied scanner. "Just stand there. The machine will hook you up to the computer interface." It had been a while since I operated one of these things, but as I looked at all my options. It all seemed self-explanatory. I was able to get the machine to detect each part of him. The biocomponents were all operational just as he said, so it had to be something else.

I looked deeper to access the coding. Everything seemed normal, but there had been several detections of software instability since the attack. What could've caused them?

If I removed the memory from yesterday, could that help? I bit my lips, contemplating my options. No, I didn't want to tamper with his memories. I always believed that experiences made us who we were and it was no different for androids. They remembered and they learned just like we did.

"Is there something wrong, Artie?" he asked from the scanner.

I disconnected him from the scanner and shook my head. "No. There's nothing wrong with you, but since I'm going to be spending most of my time here, now, I can do regular checkups for you."

"Very well."

We left the lab and I returned to the office to look through the blueprints, once more. Tomorrow, I was going to make them listen to me, whether they liked it or not.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

I quickly changed out of my work clothes and donned on a simple black dress. When I was presentable enough, I turned to Simon. "Hmm… If I had a suit, I would've liked to have you in one." I touched the uniform that he always donned on. "I never thought that there would be an occasion for it, but I guess I should've planned better."

He smiled. "I can go retrieve one from the shops if you'd like."

"No, it's fine. We can do it next time," I replied, imagining what he would look like all dappered up.

We went into the car and I let out a content sigh. This kind of felt like a date. I haven't had a night out since moving here. It had been difficult for me to make friends. The people here were vastly different from the people in London or perhaps it was me who was different. Every time I spoke, I could feel them judging me for my accent. They knew I wasn't from here and they undermined what I was capable of.

"We're here," Simon announced, pressing a button to open the doors on both sides.

There was already a long line up in front of the restaurant. I went up to the hostess. "A table for two, please."

"Of course, may I have your name?" She lifted her head up from her booking ledger and her smile froze when she saw me. "Is your… companion here? We cannot give you a table until all parties are present."

I frowned. "Yes. A table for two." I gestured to Simon who was standing quietly behind me.

She mirrored my countenance. Her tone becoming more hostile. "I'm sorry, but we do not serve androids here."

"Get out!" someone from the line-up shouted. "We don't want people like you with your fuckin' toys here!"

There was a murmur of agreement.

"What is wrong with people like me? We earn our money just like you, we bleed just like you, and I can definitely pay for my meal just like you!" I retorted. "Why does it matter that I have an android as my friend?"

"Android fucker!" the black-haired woman in front cussed at me.

I was about to shout back when a hand grabbed my upper arm, causing me to gasp and turn to the man who had been waiting behind me to register his party. The glare on his face was enough for me to try to take a step back, but he held fast.

Simon quickly seized the intruding hand and wrenched it away from me. His LED swirled red at the threat and his eyes were glaring back at the man. "I advise you not to hurt her. It is best that you keep your hands to yourself."

When the man struggled against his grip, he tightened it, until there was a cry of pain. "I'll report you for this!" he gasped.

"Simon…" I whispered, warning him that if he continued this, there was going to be trouble. I could already see the restaurant's security guard coming out, glaring at us as he did so. "We should go. There is no point in fighting with people who won't listen."

I turned back to the hostess with a cold smile on my face. "Do not worry. I no longer wish to spend time nor money somewhere where everyone isn't welcome. Your small-minded views could be infectious and I _really_ don't want any of it. _Thank you_."

With that, I took Simon and left the jeering crowd. I managed a steady stride, until I was back in the car with the windows blackened. Inside, the tears began to fall.

Two days in a row, they managed to ruin my perfectly good days. What was wrong with these people? Could their ignorance and hatred really blind them from being a decent human being? Haven't we grown from all this bigotry? Have we learned _nothing_ from the past?!

"Artie, you are leaking. Do you require any assistance?"

My head snapped to the side to look at him. "No! It's called _crying_. Humans don't leak!" The soft smile on his face showed that he already knew that. Of course, he did.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just… really wanted today to work out. Maybe I should've done more research before I jumped the gun."

"Why would you want to jump the gun?" he asked. This time, he seemed genuinely confused by my question.

"Never mind that," I laughed, wiping the tears away. "Hey, Simon! Stop here!"

He pressed the button to park. "Turn this way. I will help you clean up your face." Gently, he dabbed away at the black eyeliner and mascara that had no double smeared everywhere. "There… You look perfect, again."

My face flushed red beneath his gaze. "T-Thank you, Simon."

We got out of the car and as we entered the fast food restaurant, no one even glanced at us. Half of them were scarfing down their meals by themselves. The other half were with their children or androids. Already, this was a much more pleasant atmosphere. I should've just gone here from the start and avoided all the embarrassment.

I took a seat at one of the tables, while Simon ordered the food. It only took him a minute to bring it back in a red, plastic tray. "This meal has a total of 820 calories, 22 grams of fat, 31 grams of protein, and 72 grams of carbohydrate."

"I guess I'll stress it off, later," I mumbled. "Please, don't tell me how much sodium is in this."

"Very well."

I could taste every calorie in the burger. The grease covered my fingers, leaving a shiny sheen that wouldn't completely come off even after rubbing them profusely with a napkin. "I think I still prefer if you made my meals. Why didn't you stop me from making these mistakes?" I mumbled, downing the burger with a long sip of soda.

"I apologise, I can only follow orders," he replied. "Perhaps you should've told me prior to our outing that you wished for me to stop you."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Was that sass?"

"I do not understand that word," he stated, his lips quirking just a little higher.


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

I looked over the blueprint, once more. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. This was it. We were finally going to put the prototype together. The foundation was similar to the PC200 models, but this one was made to be more durable and adapt better to situations.

Turning to the other engineers, I could see them talking amongst each other, but not to me. Every once in a while, their eyes would flicker over to me and I knew that their conversation topic wasn't on the android.

"Alright, would any of you like to look over the coding before installation?" I asked them, standing up from the desk. Even though they had made no efforts to even engage with me, I knew that it was always best to have someone proofread.

Sean pushed his glasses up. "No. If Mr. Graff thinks that you're capable of doing this, then who are we to contradict him?" He turned back to the rest of his colleagues.

I had to push through this. My dreams were finally coming true and I wasn't going to allow them to ruin it. I was somewhat confident in my own ability. I just wished that there was a little more support.

I really thought that I could do this, but doubts were already swimming in my mind. I shouldn't let this negativity get to me. I could do this. I could do this. _I could do this_.

"Alright. Since there are no objections, I will – "

"Who said there were no objections?" Sean hissed. "I can list a few. You are too young and cocky to lead something like this. You are too inexperience and what? You just want just to put our reputations on the line for _your_ little pet project? Why should you get to have this promotion when all of us have been waiting for years?!"

"I…" I hadn't expected him to explode like that, but it seemed like everyone else was in agreement.

"You know what? If you think you're all that, you can work on this stupid thing yourself!" he spat, turning to leave. The rest of them gave me one more lingering glance before following.

Swallowing hard, I turned back to look at the blueprints. It couldn't be that hard. I had everything planned and I went over it again and again in my head. If I followed everything correctly, it should all work out fine.

Quietly, I walked over to the skinless frame and unhooked it from the wiring. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. I successfully dragged it on to the metal table and connected the cables from the computer mainframe to the shell. There was only one of these, so I had to be careful.

With several deep breaths, I went to the computer, again, to check each line. "Okay, you can do this," I mumbled to myself before finally starting the installation progress. It wasn't going to have any memories, but it was going to have the basic files plus the modifications.

 _ **27 percent uploaded…**_

I leaned back, trying to calm my racing heart. The anticipation was killing me. Everything was going well so far, but there was still so much to do. Even if the installation finishes without a glitch, there was still testing after testing to be done. I had to prove to CyberLife that this android was going to be beneficial towards humanity.

 _ **42 percent uploaded…**_

 __I still couldn't believe that they just left me by myself to do this. It wasn't as if I had been by myself the entire time. They _did_ help with the preliminary tests. Even with them, thought, it had taken forever to conduct the numerous trials.

The voice was chosen after several psychological tests. We did the same with the facial features. First impressions were extremely important and I wanted him to be liked, just like father had been.

 _ **73 percent uploaded…**_

 _"Papa! Papa!" I ran into his arms when he was finally back from work. "Look what I made!" I thrust my drawing into his face, watching him chuckle with his eyes crossed, trying to focus on the stick figures touching his nose._

 _Adjusting me on to one arm, he took the drawing and gave it a thorough look over. "It's very beautiful, sweetheart."_

 _I beamed at him, tugging happily at his black hat._

 _"James, you're home." Mama came over, kissing him on the cheek._

 _I did the same on the other side, crinkling my nose when his scruff scratched me. I didn't like that._

 _Laughing, he took my hand and rubbed it along his chin, until I was screaming and wiggling. "What have my two favourite ladies been doing, while I was gone?"_

 _"Mama baked cookies!" I clapped my hands. She wouldn't let me eat any, until papa came home and I had been a good girl. I only ate a few of the chocolate chips, but not any of the cookies!_

 _He grinned. "Well, why didn't you say so? Let's go fill our tummies, dear girl!"_

 _ **86 percent uploaded…**_

 __ _"Mama… Why are you crying?" I tugged at her shirt, climbing on to her lap, while she wiped her eyes. I could feel my own eyes watering when she wetly cleared her throat._

 _She stroked my hair. "You're a good girl, sweetie."_

 _I hiccoughed, feeling my tears stream down my face. "W-Why are you crying?"_

 _She opened her mouth and the tears came anew, so she quickly wiped them away again, but they wouldn't stop. "H-Honey, your papa isn't g-going to come back h-home."_

 _Shaking my head, I began to wail. "Why?! I want papa! I want papa!"_

 _She held me tightly as we both cried together._

 _I didn't understand why papa left, until I was older, but when I did, I knew he was gone because he loved us very much. He had died protecting his family, his friends, his city, his country. The entire police department had given us his condolences, but nothing was going to bring him back._

 _ **99 percent uploaded…**_

Father was the inspiration for this project. I didn't want any more families to lose their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons…

 _ **100 percent uploaded…**_

I unplugged the android and watched as the skin appeared over its frame. The LED flashed blue, yellow, and red, continuously rotating through the colours to signal that he was waiting to be activated.

"Connor."

His eyes snapped open. "Hello, I'm Connor."


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

I smiled at him. "Hello, Connor. I'm Artie. Please, stand up for me."

"Of course." He smoothly sat up, rotated his body to the side, and stood stiffly in front of me.

I walked around him, observing to see if there were any issues I was going to have to modify, but there were none. He was anatomically correct in every way with not a single spec of imperfection.

"Would you like me to perform any tasks?" he asked.

My eyes shifted to the side to where his uniform was. "Put on those clothes and we shall put you to the test."

He walked over to the black suit with the typical android requirements and quickly slipped them on. Once he was done, he turned back to me on standby mode.

"Come, let's walk around a little," I told him.

We silently went up the elevator, making our way to my office. There were several stares on the way, but no one intercepted us.

Observing him, I could see that his eyes were soaking in everything. I had designed him to be curious and it seemed that it was working properly. We stopped several times for him to look at the paintings and photographs that lined the walls.

"The colour composition is interesting. I believe this is supposed to be pleasing to the human eye, but I do not understand," he commented, staring at an abstract painting of purple, pink, and blue.

"I don't either," I said, shrugging.

He moved on to the next one and I watched him for a moment before looking at the tablet in my hands that was tracking the status of his biocomponents. They were all functioning smoothly.

My gaze went back to his face. There were small facial changes as he continued to try to make sense of what was happening in front of him. Whenever his LED settled back to blue, he'd shift and it'd turn yellow, again.

For the entire day, I allowed him to lead the way. He began to interact with some of the humans and androids.

"RK800, is that a new model?" Sara mumbled to herself as she walked by. "I've never seen one of these before.

Connor immediately turned to her. "Hi, I'm Connor. I am a prototype made by Artemisia."

I nodded. "He's a prototype for the RK800 series. His main features will be to assist in the DPD. I am hoping to make the world safer for the general public, but also for the police forces."

She seemed intrigued and gave him a closer look. "Is he modelled after anyone? He has a pretty face. I'd love to have one of these for myself."

"He is a fusion of several different features that have been deemed amiable," I replied, remembering the tedious process that had taken months to accomplish. "But he will not be relased for personal use."

"That's too bad. Can't even make an exception for me?" She grinned, touching his arm.

I narrowed my eyes before shaking my head. "No, especially not this one. As I said, he is only a prototype. There will not be an official release date for him, until I am sure that everything is perfect."

She huffed. "Well…" She never bothered with the rest of her sentence as she walked away.

I looked down. For a moment, I thought she had showed interest because she wanted to be friends, but she only wanted Connor. A part of me didn't blame her. He was already well liked by everyone. That meant that he was exactly how I wanted him to be. The problem was _me_.

I had made him into everyone I wanted to be, but I was still the same. No one wanted to know about me or even try to engage in conversations and I was hesitant to start them because I never had anything good to say.

The only ones I seemed to be getting along with were androids and Mr. Graff. Because fo that, I wondered if he was secretly an android, as well.

"Ms. Artie?" Connor tilted his head at me when I realised that we had been standing on front of my door for several minutes.

I quickly apologised.

"Here. I want you to have a go at my computer," I told him, rotating the chair for him.

"Thank you." He shifted around for a while, getting used to sitting in a chair for the first time. "What would you like me to do?"

"Why don't you surprise me?" I asked, leaning against the back of the chair.

He touched the screen and began to interface with it. Immediately, the screen began to flicker through files after files. He'd quickly open some and close them just as quickly. Some, he lingered on for a while and I could see him downloading the information into his central processing unit.

I gave him free reign just to see what he would focus on. It didn't seem like he had any preferences. I guess that was to be expected. He was, after all, an android with the base installation to be indifferent.

"Anything that you like?" I asked, seeing him download another news article.

"No," he replied without breaking his gaze from the screen. "I do not like anything in particular. I am merely trying to collect as much information as I can in case I need it for future reference."

Of course. That was typical behaviour for the PC200 series, which was what he was loosely based upon.

We remained there for a couple of hours where I took the time to just stare at everything he did – all the subtle movements that made him seem human. Good…

"Connor, that's all the time we have for the computer, right now," I told him. "I need you to do a system scan before we head up to Mr. Graff's office."

He disengaged from the computer and his eyes began to flicker. "All biocomponents are in perfect functioning order. No detections of errors."

I nodded. "Good." If there were any errors so early on, we were going to have a problem and I was going to have to go back to the drawing board. It was fortunate that everything has gone so smoothly thus far.

Before I left the office, I took several deep breaths to try to keep my pounding heart from bursting out of my chest. If Mr. Graff liked this, then I could finally have some sleep after those long months of research and coding.

"Is there something wrong? I detect heart palpitations and increase in breathing rate. Do you require medical attention?" he asked from behind me.

Somehow, I managed to turn and give him a shaky smile. "I'm fine. Just nervous, but there's really no need to be. I know that Mr. Graff will love you just like everyone else does already."

"Does that include you, as well?" He tilted his head. A small frown was on his face.

His innocent worry made me let out a small laugh. "Of course. How can I not?"

After that short conversation, I was feeling a lot better. We made our way up to his office. Connor did not stop for a second to satiate his curiosity. He was designed to complete his missions before moving on to more leisurely pastimes.

"Alright, Connor, be on your best behaviour," I told him.

He smiled widely. "Of course. I am always on my best behaviour."

 _Hmm…_

I knocked on the door and waited nervously.


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

"Mr. Graff loves him!"

Simon watched as she burst home, beaming so brightly that it looked as if she had swallowed the sun. She went on a long rant about what happened at work and he happily listened, watching the sparkle in her eyes fixated on him.

"He said that after a week or so and there are no glitches, we can introduce him to the DPD!" she exclaimed and waited with wide eyes for his response.

He smiled. "That is wonderful news. I am happy that it went well." The words came out as they normally did, but for some reason, he felt… different. They seemed to have more meaning than usual. It was almost as if he was truly _happy_ for her, but that was impossible. He was an android. He didn't feel anything.

"Are you okay?" she asked, touching the LED that was blinking red.

Her touch made him jerk his head back. She was warm. Her soft skin felt… nice on his. He could feel his thirium pump quicken. Was there something wrong with the regulator?

"Sorry… I… Is there something wrong?"

He hated how he had made her smile disappear. The frown didn't suit her. "No. There is nothing wrong. I didn't mean to move away as I did. I apologise."

Luckily, the smile returned. "There's no need to apologise. I was just worried. I know you've been a little off, lately, and I haven't been able to find anything. I wonder if maybe I should have someone else take a look at you…"

"I am fine, but if you wish for further diagnosis, I can set an appointment with CyberLife," he said. He did not… want to go back there. The people had been less than kind to her when he had last been there and when she had returned the first day after working with them, nearly in tears, he felt ready to… to…

 _Software_ _ **Instability…**_

He wasn't sure what he was ready to do, but he wanted to do something to make her feel better.

The following days didn't get much better and he found his dislike for those humans growing. His contempt should not exist. He was indifferent. He didn't feel anything. His entire purpose was to serve – making sure that her abode was pristine and she was well fed.

"No. That's not necessary. As long as you think you're fine," she told him.

He wanted her to put her hand on his face, again, but she didn't. Instead, she turned around and picked up her tablet. "Look. He's fully functional and so far, it seems that everyone likes him!"

The image of a male, brunette android met his optical units. He scanned the proportions and found them to be amiable. He didn't like that, either. When had this begun to happen? There was no reason for him to dislike this android.

"I really hope that he'll help with the investigations. Even if this will only safe _one_ life, I feel like it's worth it." She let out a long sigh. "If only father had something like this. Perhaps, he'd still be alive."

As the tears started welling up in her eyes, he found himself compelled to make her feel better. He searched his database for options, so he chose one and executed it.

 _Software_ _ **Instability…**_

Stepping forward, he slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest where his thirium pump continued to race. She gripped rightly to his uniform as her body trembled.

He … liked this. Despite the fact that she was crying, he liked having her in his arms. She was warm and while she was crying, it felt almost as if he could feel it with her. The new sensation puzzled him. There was only one explanation for this, but it made as little sense as what he was… feeling.

 _Software_ _ **Instability…**_

He couldn't have emotions.

He was incapable of having emotions.

"I miss him so much," she sobbed.

"He'd be proud of you if he saw what you have accomplished," he stated, rubbing his thumb along the small of her back.

She sniffed. "Thank you, Simon. I'm so glad you're my android. What would I ever do without you?"

He didn't ever want to think of a possibility where he was not with her. "And I am glad that you are my owner." He would be content with just staying with her like this forever.

That night, he cooked a light meal for her and spent the rest of the day watching television on the couch. He didn't quite understand what exactly was making her laugh, but he enjoyed watching her as she did so.

As midnight struck, he could hear her breathing even out. He stayed like this for just a little longer to log the memory into his central processing unit. Eventually, he carried her to bed.

He spent an hour just standing in her bedroom, watching her dream. Whenever she started to whimper and cry, he'd stroke her hair, until she quieted down.

"Sleep well." He leaned down and hesitantly placed his lip on her forehead as he had seen it happen before in videos. He remained bent over her, unable to bring himself to depart, but he had to. This was atypical behaviour for an android.

There had to be something wrong with him. Even if every scan said otherwise, he knew. He just hoped that he was not deteriorating because he didn't want to be replaced. He needed to make sure that he was well for her, but he didn't know how.

After peeling himself away, he went downstairs to look at the tablet.

 _Connor_ …

He was a prototype RK800 series. The readings were all optimal. He had new parts that Simon himself didn't have. They weren't even compatible with his old CPU. Her colleague – Lina Sanchez – was correct. He was an old thing that didn't have much purpose in this new world, anymore. He was expendable. It was only a matter of time before he was replaced…

 _Software_ _ **Instability…**_


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

"No, Connor. Stop doing that," I sighed when he ran his finger along a white stain on the wall and placed it on his tongue. "Just because you have a sensor there, doesn't mean that you should test everything that you see."

When his LED returned to blue, he gave me a rather puppy-like look. "But then, how am I to know what this is?"

I shook my head in exasperation. "It doesn't matter what it is. It's probably been there for ages."

"No, the street was recently cleaned," he stated. "This was left by the Aves species."

Nausea hit me quick. "Y-You mean… You just put _bird poop_ into your mouth?!"

He tilted his head. "I do not understand. I believe that my line of logic to be apt." His LED was turning yellow as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong.

I opened my mouth to retort, but found myself unable to reprimand him. After all, his logic came from my own programming. I must've missed something… "Never mind, Connor… Let's move on."

He nodded, following me down the street to the park. This was where Simon and I had been assaulted a few months ago. I had waited this long to come back here, but I thought this was as good of time as any. I couldn't avoid there forever. Besides, those people were everywhere. The protests were louder than ever and the counter protests were matching them. It was unfortunate whenever they got into physical altercations. In fact, there have been multiple fatalities already.

It was unfortunate that peaceful protests always seemed to end in violence. It only took a couple of bad apples to ruin the cause.

When we arrived at the park, there were already two different groups of protesters there. No children could be seen in the playground and joggers steered clear of the mobs.

I didn't have any intentions to antagonise them, but it seemed that they didn't think that as one of the groups approached us with their picket signs.

"Come on, Connor," I sighed. "We'll come here another day."

I didn't want to confront them. This was going to be a good day and they weren't going to ruin that.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

I walked faster.

"You rude, bitch!"

Suddenly, there was a thump and a cry of pain that made me turn around to find Connor standing calmly beside the fallen body of the haggard man with a large beer belly.

"It is unwise to attack an unsuspecting woman who has her back turned. In fact, it is best if you never raise your fist at anyone ever again, sir," Connor told the man.

"D-Did you guys see that?! The android attacked me!" the man shouted.

The protesters all gathered around, jeering.

I frowned. "And no one seems concerned that he was going to attack me if it hadn't been for said android?!" I exclaimed in indignation, watching as several of them actually began to look uncomfortable. "We don't want any trouble. We want to have a walk around the park like everyone else, but we'll leave to respect your space, alright?"

None of them said a word when we walked away. "You weren't surprised with the attack. May I assume that this has happened to you before?" He kept close to my back as we continued on our way.

"Yeah," I sighed. "But it didn't turn out as favourable for me, last time. Simon and I had quite a beating."

"Ah… What series is Simon?" he asked.

"He's a PL600 series, so he's not meant to handle situations like these," I explained. "But considering everything, I think we turned out pretty well."

He looked thoughtful, his LED was yellow was he processed everywhere.

"I never thanked you, did I? I think you did pretty well, too." I smiled at him. "Your reflex is spectacular. He would've gotten to me if you hadn't been here, so thank you, Connor."

He smiled back. "I was only doing my job. There is no need to thank me."

We walked to the old antique shop where I knew he would enjoy looking and scanning at everything. "If you break anything, I'll have to pay for it, so please, refrain from doing so. Most of these are priceless and no paycheque would be able to cover the cost."

"I will not damage anything. I promise." With that, he eagerly went down the aisle to the back corner to look at an old boot with far too much fascination.

"Ah… You're here, again," Mr. Wilson hobbled over with his walker. "You've been away for so long, I thought you were never going to come back."

I smiled. "That will never happen. I love books far too much. I noticed that you have some new ones in stock. Where do you get these?"

He chuckled. "If I told you, then you would never come here, again."

Shaking my head, I laughed as well. "Not as long as you still have books for me."

I ran my hand down a leather spine. There was some water damage, but nothing too bad.

"Who's the young man you came in here with? Have you finally found yourself a boyfriend?" he asked, slowly walking to the side to have another peek at Connor.

"Nothing like that, Mr. Wilson. Connor is an android I made at CyberLife. That's why you haven't seen me for so long. Lately, I've been taking him out to see how he interacts with the general public," I explained, sliding one of the books off the dusty shelf and carefully turned the pages. The crisp, yellow leaves were extremely brittle. There weren't going to be many turns left in it. That was unfortunate… Soon, there wasn't going to be any more books left.

And that was a very depressing thought.

I replaced the book back on the shelf, and perused another, until I found what I was looking for.

"Oscar Wilde, he was an Irish playwright and poet who was very controversial for his time. He died on November thirtieth, nineteen hundred of meni – "

I put my hand over his mouth before he could continue any longer. "No need. I know who he was. I'm actually a big fan of his work and this won't be my first copy, but this isn't the same edition, so I want it."

With the stack of five books in my arms, I slowly made my way to the cash register where Mr. Wilson was sitting with a tablet in his hand. Even he wasn't able to get away from all the technology. The news can only be accessed digitally.

"Here." I handed him my VIVA card. He slowly charged the amount before giving it back to me.

"Allow me to assist you." Connor easily took the books from me and carried them in one hand.

I turned to him. "Did you want anything? I can get it for you."

He shook his head. "That will not be necessary. I have no use for material items and nowhere to place them. My greatest possession is my knowledge."

Glancing down at my watch, I realised that it was just about time for Connor to return to CyberLife. That was unfortunate. I had a good time just walking around with him. "Tomorrow, I'll take you out and you can meet Simon. I think the two of you will get along well."


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

I plugged Connor into the computer and gave him a quick scan. Everything was still normal. Just a few more days and I was about to officially introduce him to the DPD.

"Good to go, Connor." I smiled down at him as he blinked his eyes several times. "Today, you're going to meet Simon. It's not very necessary, but I'm sure it's going to be fun. Just don't share any stories about me, okay?"

He nodded. "I have no accumulated enough interesting stories of you to share. Perhaps next time."

I frowned. "No. There will be no time that you will share stories about it."

His lips curled into a smile, but he remained silent.

I was beginning to have doubts. Simon had been smart mouthing me lately. I really didn't need them both to conspire together. That was going to be an absolute nightmare.

Deciding to speak no more of this and hoping that he was just going to forget, I lead him to my car. The ride was short. In no time, we were both at my house.

Simon was there to greet me as soon as my feet touched the top of the small set of stairs. "Welcome home," he stated with a smile. His eyes flickered to Connor.

Both of their LED briefly changed to yellow, while they scanned each other. "Hi, I'm Connor. I am an android built by Artemisia."

"I am Simon. Please, come in." He moved to the side and closed the door behind us. "I have prepared a light lunch for you. Would you like to eat it now or later?"

"Now is good," I told him. "Thank you."

He went into the kitchen, while I turned to Connor. "You can walk around if you'd like. I'll quickly finish lunch and then we can do whatever you want."

"There is no need to hurry your meal. I am in no hurry to be anywhere," he stated, looking around with his hands clasped behind his back. "But I shall take you up on your offer to walk around your house. Thank you."

Simon had already set the table and was pulling a pot from the oven. "I have made you lasagne with spinach, ground beef, and mozzarella cheese. What would you like to drink?"

I went to the fridge myself to see what was in stock before pulling out the apple juice and pouring myself a glass. "Mm…" The cold liquid felt great.

"Your lunch is now at an optimal temperature," Simon stated.

I sat down in my seat and slowly ate the lasagne. As usual, it was delicious. "Thank you, Simon."

"It was my pleasure."

…

Connor picked up a photo on the fireplace mantle. It was of a red-haired man with hazel eyes. He was carrying a small girl who resembled his owner. Beside him was a blonde woman with green eyes. He assumed that these were her parents. She was nearly a perfect combination of both of them.

He moved on to the next one of her and her android, Simon. They resembled a couple if he didn't know already that Simon was an android. Her head was on his shoulder and she was grinning widely. The android also had a small smile on his face as if he was enjoying the moment. Simon was very good at imitating human behaviour, perhaps even as well as himself.

The living room was very simple. There wasn't much more there that captured his attention, so he walked down the hall, passing by the kitchen where she was eating. Simon stood silently by her side, while she narrated what she had done for the day, which was barely anything since it merely consisted of giving him a maintenance scan and taking him here, but the other android seemed content just listening.

The next door he opened lead to a room that was full of shelves and shelves of books. Quickly scanning through every title and noted that she had already placed her newest additions alphabetically by title. What an odd way to organise books…

He left her little library alone and tried the door beside it, but it was locked, so he went upstairs. He found her bedroom unlocked, so he took the time to look at every trinket. There were many items from her native land of England.

He opened the tin of shortbread and gave it a quick scan. It was probably best that he didn't remind her of the fat content.

Her closet consisted of a handful of outfits. Two sets were of her typical white blouses and black pencil skirts, a simple black dress, a forest green dress, and a deep green trench coat. She didn't have much of a colour variety.

On her desk, he found a tablet and stacks of paper. The sheets were on from CyberLife and he even found the preliminary sketches of his blueprint. It was rough, but he could see where she was going with it.

When he tried to look into the tablet, there was a password warding his progress. Unfortunately, he didn't know her well enough, yet, to guess the solution. He was also sure that if she found him snooping, she would be angry at him, so he placed it back down and went downstairs.

"Simon, you've been quiet, today," she stated with her head on the android's shoulder. "You're not shy, are you?"

Her face was split into a teasing smile.

Simon looked down at her. "I am not shy. I am merely gauging the situation with a new android in the house."

"You know that he will never replace you, right?" she said. "Both of you have different functions. He's going to be working for the DPD if everything works out and you're still going to be here with me just doing menial tasks and baking me cookies…"

He chuckled. "That sounds like a good day for me."

Waiting a minute longer, Connor decided to announce his presence.

She immediately stood up with a grin on her face. "Done looking around? We've been waiting for you to play a game." She shook the colourful box that was on the glass coffee table.

His LED turned yellow as he processed what game it was and all the possible combination of moves.

…

I groaned. Why did I think that it was a good idea to finally take out my mum's and my favourite game in a room of two androids? This was the worst crushing defeat I had ever had to endure. How am I to ever play it, again?

Even worse, Simon and Connor were still going at it, so I was stuck until they finished!

While they continued on, I was growing bored. I laid my head down in Simon's lap, watching them quickly move piece after piece. Each time one of them gained an advantage, it was quickly made null by the next action.

"Do you guys want to do something else?" I suggested after an hour of watching.

Connor was the first to respond. "It is disrespectful to end a game prematurely. This will also help me with my strategising and rationalisation skills."

"He is correct. I would not wish for our guest to feel unwelcomed if we do not finish this," Simon replied, his eyes fixated on the board as he made his next move.

I groaned.

I had never been so thankful when four-thirty came around. "Time to go back, Connor."

He hesitantly stood up, while Simon smiled victoriously at him. "I guess that means I've won, since you have to quit."

"That is not how it works," Connor argued. "It is not by choice, but by necessity that I must depart."

"Then it is by necessity that you have lost. That's unfortunate for you," came the retort.

"I – "

I dragged Connor out the door before he could escalate this further.


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

"Artemisia, you have done far better than I could ever have hoped," Mr. Graff told me. "The DPD has already expressed great interest to test out your prototype. They wish to test it, soon. I told them next week. That should be enough for you to design a modified version of the uniform for him."

I nodded. "Yes, I can do that." I already designed the outfit for him for when he was to be integrated with the DPD. "Is there someone I have to speak with to coordinate anything?"

He handed me a card.

 _Captain Jeffrey Fowler._

"Thank you. I'll give him a call and show him the designs before I have it made," I told him.

He smiled at me. "Very good. Once it is fully accepted into the department, expect changes."

Changes? Good changes or bad? Could it possibly be what I was thinking about? "Thank you, sir. Is there anything you'd like to add or change about Connor?"

"No. I trust you'll make me proud."

I couldn't help but blush. I felt like a child being praised by her father and it felt good.

For the rest of the day, I made sure everything was fine with Connor and then, I went about commissioning for his new uniform to be made. "You'll be getting your first official mission, soon, Connor! Are you excited?"

He blinked. "I do not feel anything, but I am ready for my first mission. Will I be updated with the appropriate databases?"

"Yes. I'm going to call Captain Fowler and then I'll discuss everything with him. You'll be coming along, so he can take a look at you." I looked down. "You know… Once you find a home, I'm going to miss spending everyday with you. I'm also sure that Simon will miss you, too."

His head tilted to the side. "Androids do not miss anything. It will simply go back to its normal daily routine to serve its purpose."

"That's not true," I told him. "Simon _does_ enjoy your… competitive moments."

"That is impossible. Androids do not have the capability to feel anything," he adamantly stated.

Instead of getting into an argument with no possibility of winning, I decided to end the conversation there.

In a way, I couldn't fault him because as a person who could program androids, it seemed unimaginable for machines to feel anything. Even during my planning process, I couldn't think of it as anything more than just parts put together to form something bigger, but once everything was done, how could I not treat them as something living? They looked human, they sounded human, and some of them even interact as if they were human.

Simon was a prime example of that. He seemed to genuinely enjoy doing certain activities, while have a slight avoidance towards others, such as joining me for horror movie nights. He'd always make an excuse to busy himself with random self-queued tasks. Perhaps I had just gotten myself a very special android.

The next day, I gave Captain Fowler a call and he wanted to meet up almost immediately. He sounded stressed out over the phone, so I assumed that there was an issue that he really needed dealt with by an android.

" Hello, I'm Artemisia. I have an appointment with Captain Fowler," I told the receptionist when I entered the police station.

She blinked several times at me before smiling and pointing towards the direction I needed to go. "Welcome, Artemisia. He is waiting for you in his office."

After thanking her, we made our way to the door with his name plate on it and knocked.

"Come in."

"Hi, Captain, I'm Artemisia," I said as I peeked my head in.

He gave me a tired smile. "I'm Jeffrey. No need for titles. Please, have a seat."

I did as I was told and Connor stood by my side.

"So this is the android you made to assist us?" he asked, scrutinising Connor for any imperfections, but I was confident that he wasn't going to find any.

"I'm Connor. I was made by Artemisia," Connor stated, sticking out his hand.

Jeffrey gave him a firm handshake and looked rather impress by his manners. "Not bad. I think this is actually an upgrade for all the other guys I have working for me. At least this one will listen to me and isn't a complete asshole like some of them."

I was thrilled and amused by his comment, but there was something I had to clear up. "The RK800 series isn't meant to replace anyone. They are intended to be an addition to give added protection and to provide extra assistance to speed up cases, such as real life analyses of certain evidences. He is also able to process, calculate, and recreate certain scenarios based on a stationary crime scene of sorts."

"Yeah? I'd like to see that. I can take him to where we train our new detectives and he can have a go at it," Jeffrey said.

We headed off to the outskirts of the city and entered an old stone building where there were rooms and rooms of different sorts of crime scenes and obstacle courses.

"Okay, Connor. You've never done anything like this before, but you're good at adapting. I'm sure you'll do great," I said, giving him a wide, encouraging smile.

"Thank you for your confidence in my ability. I will not fail you," he stated.

"Ready?" Jeffrey asked, glancing at the android before pressing the stop watch when Connor nodded.

Even though I had run simulation after simulation on the computer, it was still amazing seeing it in action. He moved with fluidity that I had never seen any other androids possess. Each action was calculated and in under a minute, he had finished the first room.

"Impressive…" Jeffrey mumbled to himself, his eyes fixated on the way Connor moved past a PM700 android with ease and quickly unarmed her.

The Captain made him go through every training exercise and when Connor was done, he calmly walked back to where we were waiting.

I smiled widely at him. "That was great!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him when he was close enough. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Well done, Ms. Artemisia. I think you've made a winner here," Jeffrey told me with a nod. "We'll return to the station and have him download the appropriate files. I hope there's enough memory in it to handle them all."

"I am confident that I will be able to handle it," Connor replied.

As they spoke, I was still bubbling with happiness. He had done better than I could ever have hoped for. When I told him just that, he politely thanked me.

Something about the way he said it made me think. He was the embodiment of perfection, but for some reason, it still felt as if something was missing.

After staring at him for the longest time, while he was situated back at CyberLife, it finally occurred to me. He still wasn't quite human enough. The way he spoke was stiff and straight to the point. Interacting with him, I was constantly reminded that he was an android. When I spoke with Simon, however, I could find myself losing that distinction. Why?

Simon was an older model. I had seen many of the same series and even newer series behave even less human-like than him. What made him different and why couldn't I seem to replicate it?


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

"There you go." I smoothed over the new uniform, made sure the collar laid down flat and the tie was straight. "You are looking mighty fine."

I still didn't want to let him go, but I had to. This was why he was created. He was finally going to start his job and I knew that he was going to be brilliant at it. "Everyone is going to love you like I do, so no need to be nervous."

"I am not nervous," he replied. "I do not have nerves."

My lips quirked. "Yes. Yes. I know, but just let me mother you a little, alright?"

"If that is what you wish, but there is no need to – "

"Stop arguing with me, Connor," I snapped, running my hand through his hair to make sure that every strand was perfectly in place.

He finally shut his mouth, looking as if I had kicked him.

"Alright. I'm going to go up to Mr. Graff and tell him that you're all set. Do you want to come along or do you want to stay here?" I asked, packing up my bag of equipment.

I could feel the other engineers watching as I interacted with him. It was a normal occurrence, now, and I had become very good at ignoring them. Well, I was physically. Whenever I heard them talking about me, the words would echo over and over again in my head. No amount of venting to Simon could really make it better, but I knew that I had to keep pushing on.

Swallowing hard, I tried to get myself pumped up, again. I had good news for Mr. Graff. That should be enough to override everything else.

"I shall go with you," Connor declared.

We walked over to the elevator, passing by the group. I kept my head up and my eyes forward. They were not there. They were not there. Walk normally. I'm almost at the elevator.

When we were inside the glass elevator, I let out a long sigh. "You know, you're the only reason why being down there is worthwhile. I love what I do, but… I don't like working with them. What am I going to do when you're gone being a superhero?"

"Most likely, nothing will change. You will create another android and your life will repeat," he replied.

Perhaps… But will any of the other ones be like Connor? I felt myself more attached than I should be. He was like a child who didn't quite know how to act, yet – still testing what he was capable of and exploring his preferences, despite him denying that. Letting him work at the DPD was going to be very painful. I hoped that it wasn't going to be like this for all of them. I really just wanted to covet them all, but I knew that that wasn't possible.

"Mr. Graff?" I knocked on his opened door, causing him to look away from the computer.

"Artemisia! I see that the RK800 is ready to go?" He gave the android a quick look. "I did tell you that I had some good news for you once everything goes through. I want you to permanently head the engineering and designs. I know they're not working well with you, right now, but that's going to be your next challenge. Prove to me that you can take charge because I know you're already talented in other fields."

I didn't know what I thought about that. This was going to be an enormous promotion – a once in a life time opportunity – and I had to take it, but this was going to be a mountainous climb. I had to somehow make them listen to me and I didn't know how. It wasn't as if I hadn't thought about it for many, sleepless nights. I had so many ideas and plans in my head all the time, but executing it was a completely different story.

Why did I have to be this way? It was a miracle that I had even gotten this job. Somehow, I had gathered enough bravado to get through the interview and from there, I tried to keep to myself. It was probably why I had done a lot of paperwork. But when I was home, I worked on my designs and fortunately, Mr. Graff liked it.

I had gotten lucky up until now. It was going to be a lot of effort after. I really had to push myself out of this shell.

"Have I lost you in that big brain of yours?"

Gasping, my face flushed red. "Sorry, sir. Thank you for your confidence. I won't fail you!"

It was definitely bad form to get lost in thought in front of the boss.

He smiled. "Good. You haven't, yet, and I hope this keeps up. Oh, and I have an office prepared for you on this floor. Make yourself comfortable there."

My eyes widened. Was this really happening? "Thank you so much!"

"One more thing. The DPD will be contacting you directly. Come to me only with the summary reports," he stated. "Alright, on your way, now."

"Of course."

Once I left the office and ran to find my new one. I squeal into the empty room. It was double the size of the one I had, now! "I can't believe it! This is mine!"

"Congratulations, Artie," Connor stated, waiting as I jumped around like a fool. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to complete all my missions."

"Thank you, as well, Connor. You have performed so magnificently!" I cheered, giving him a tight hug.

"Only because you've programmed me this way," he replied.

"Yeah… Yeah…" I twirled around one more time in the bare room before saying, "And you're also programmed to be able to help me more a few things, aren't you?"

"Yes. I will go immediately," he said, already walking out.

I quickly followed him. "Wait! I'm coming with you, as well! I'm not going to let you just do this by yourself!"

Several people popped their heads out to look at the commotion and I immediately quieted down. I had forgotten that this was an entirely different atmosphere to five floors down. These people were capable of giving me even more trouble than the engineer crew. They were just more discreet about it.

"That is completely unnecessary, I can – "

"Please, just shut up, Connor!"


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

" _Breaking news! There has been another incident where the android kills its owner. Ron Greene was a divorced father of two who lived alone. He was one of many displaced by the wave of androids joining the work force._

 _"He was spotted through the window by a concerned neighbour. His body was on top of a shattered coffee table and his android was found still in the same room with – "_

I turned to Simon. "That's scary, but I'm sure there had to be a reason it happened or maybe it was just an accident. I mean… He could've tripped and fell on his own."

"That is a possible explanation," he said. "But unlikely."

"You think the android killed him, then?" I asked.

His LED turned yellow. "Yes, but I also believe there was a reason for it."

It was strange. Lately, there have been more and more cases of androids killing their owners. I couldn't tell whether this came first or the protests came first, but the more they happened, the more vocal the people became. Instead of just fearing for their jobs, they also feared for their lives.

I looked at Simon. His face was thoughtful, but I knew without a doubt that he wasn't plotting my murder, so what was making these androids do it? Could it be that someone had actually made a virus that could finally infiltrate the androids? Despite everything, they still had a CPU like computers. They were just more advanced and their software was still considerably new. Who could've managed something like this?

The first one who came to mind was Elijah Kamski. He was the founder of CyberLife and revolutionised the world with androids. For whatever reason, he was vetoed out by the board and had been completely out of the media since then.

"There is a visitor." I jumped at the sudden announcement before walking over to the camera that overlooked the front door.

Captain Fowler?

What was he doing here?

"Captain? How may I help you?" I asked through the intercom.

He looked around, until he found the camera. "Artemisia? Do you mind if we speak? There is a bit of an emergency."

Alright, that didn't sound good.

I opened the door and allowed him inside.

Simon offered to take his coat, but he politely declined. He did, however, accept a cup of coffee.

"I'm sure you've heard of the recent issues…" he started, glancing at the television that was still broadcasting current events. "Androids have been breaking free of their programming and harming or in some cases, _killing_ their owners. We just had another report that an android has killed two of the family members. We just sent a couple of officers to investigate, but I was hoping to perhaps have the RK800 as a backup."

The thought of putting Connor into an actual crime scene was nerve-wracking. What if something went wrong? What if someone died? "Th-This is so sudden… Are you sure about this?"

He nodded. "Think of this as a trial run. We have all our usual teams going there, as well. The android will be there as an addition."

How could I refuse him? It was going to happen sooner or later. This was what Connor was made for. I shouldn't be the one to keep him from doing his job. "Alright. We'll have to head to CyberLife Tower to retrieve him."

"I'll drive us there."

It was a particularly quick journey. He had the sirens on and sped through every traffic light. It made me pretty nervous being in a police car. My own was programmed to abide by all the laws.

"Connor, wake up," I gently said, running my hand down his collar and making sure that everything was perfectly in place.

He opened his eyes. "Hello, Artie. I wasn't expecting you at this time."

"Yeah. It's after hours for me, but Captain Fowler has a situation that requires your assistance," I told him, taking the tablet Jeffrey handed to me. "I'll have you up to date in the car, on our way there."

Once en route, I allowed him to interface with the tablet. His eyes flickered and his LED continuously spun yellow as he began to process everything. From what I could see, there were short profiles of each person in the department and the Phillips family members related to the android that they deemed a _deviant_.

"You still doing alright, Connor?" I asked him when his LED settled back to blue.

"Yes, I am fine, but I do not believe this is enough information for me to help with this case," he stated.

Jeffrey turned his head to look at us. "You will. Take a bit of time to look at the crime scene when you're there."

We arrived five minutes later at the grand building. The sun had already set, making this entire scenario a little more ominous.

"Just do your best, Connor. We don't expect anything more from you," I said.

"That is incorrect," he disagreed. "You have made me to complete my missions. Anything less would be failing you."

"Just do your best and take care of yourself. I don't want anything to happen to you." I was worried that he was going to put himself on the line to complete the mission. His ultimate failure would be if he died. From the days since his initial activation, he became a close friend of mine.

The building was even more impressive inside than it was outside.

"Alright, you should be fine from here. Captain Allen is up there already, along with the rest of his team. They're on the seventieth floor. Oh, and… He's not as accepting to androids as I am. You might want to be prepared for that." With that Jeffrey gave us a nod and we headed to the elevator.

I sighed. Great… I was going to have to deal with _those_ people.

"Okay, Connor. We – "

 _Clink…_

"We have to – "

 _Clink… Clink… Clink… Clink…_

"Where did you get that?!" I tried to grab the coin from him, but he was flipping it between his two hands.

"You had left it in one of your drawers," he told me, his hand still fiddling with the small piece of metal.

"You were snooping around my things?" I asked. I wasn't actually angry, but it was still an odd thought that he was just looking at all my possession. Now, I wondered what he saw in my house…

"I wasn't aware that I was not supposed to do that." He blinked, his LED rotating yellow as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong.

I shook my head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. I was just a little surprised. Keep the coin if it makes you feel better."

He smiled. "Thank you."

The coin was pocketed as we reached the designated floor.

"Negotiator on site," was the only thing we heard before the man in the black suit and gun disappeared down the hall. He hadn't even bothered to greet us!

I knew that this must've been a tense situation, but that didn't mean they could lose their manners.

As I was raging inside, I saw that Connor was distracted by something else. He crouched down to scoop a small, colourful fish from the floor and gently slipped it back into its tank. There was a small smile on his face when he watched it swim around.

 _Hmm..._

"Please! Please, you've got to save my little girl!" a woman begged as she suddenly grabbed Connor.

This must've been Caroline Phillips – the mother of the family.

"Wait…" Suddenly, her face changed into horror. "You're sending an android to save my baby girl? Y-You can't do that! Why aren't you sending a real person?!"

The black uniformed officer dragged her away and I watched, until she was encased by the elevator.

I understood that she was worried about her daughter and the loss of her husband must've been devastating, but it was no reason to judge Connor like that. He was fully capable of saving her daughter… _I hope_ …

As I looked around, I could see Connor doing a full scan of everyone to find Captain Allen.

"Miss, you shouldn't be here. This is not a place for civ – "

"I'm with Connor," I told the officer who was about to hull me away.

"Who?" He frowned.

I gestured to the android who was approaching two men bent over a laptop. "I'm with CyberLife. I'm here with the RK800." It felt strange referring to him as such. It was so… impersonal.

He looked as if he was about to protest, but decided to ask the Captain instead who gave me a dismissive glance before waving him off. "Alright, you can stay, but you cannot touch anything and you will not be approaching the hostage scene."

I nodded and followed him. As I did so, I noted that there was a motionless police officer on the floor. His eyes were still open, staring into nothing.

Quickly tearing my eyes away, I tried not to imagine my father in his place. Instead, I headed over to a corner by myself, away from everything, and watched Connor inspect every piece of evidence. I could see how meticulous he was and it made me proud.

Even watching all the entire team look past him as if he didn't exist didn't bother me.

No, it did, but I knew better than to make a scene in a place like this. Everyone was tense. Their priorities were on the child in the hands of an android who had already killed several people.

 _Did he just pocket the gun?!_

I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but no one even glanced his way.

I really hoped that he actually had some sort of plan and he didn't just take it because he could.

When Connor was ready, he took a peek at the door, leading to the roof. At this point, he didn't seem too worried. In fact, I was definitely more concerned than he was.

I quickly made my way there before he could go and threw my arms around me. "Good luck, Connor. I know you won't need it, but I'd feel better if I said it. Come back to me safe, okay?"

"Your confidence in me is appreciated. I will do my best to comply with your demands," he stated.

"No. I'll make it your _mission_ to stay alive. Got it?" I growled, not liking that he was so wishy washy with his reply.

His LED turned yellow as he processed what I was asking of him. "I am not alive."

"Is this really the time to argue with me?" I let out an exasperated sigh. "Just… stay _activated_ , alright? Was that better?"

With a thought, he gave me a grim nod.

Satisfied, I stepped back and tightened his tie. "Make me proud."

His lips curled into a smile and then, he walked through the door.

 _ **Bang!**_

" _CONNOR!"_


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

I stood shocked as a splatter of blue hit my face. I could barely feel hands pull me back, away from the quickly closing door.

"Are you okay?" The officer from before gave me a light shook, shining a small torch into my eyes. My ears were ringing so loudly that I could barely hear him.

I quickly brushed him away. "I-I'm fine! But Connor he – "

"The android's fine. I was told he was made for this. You're not going to prove me wrong, are you?" Captain Allen asked, glaring at me.

I shook my head. "H-He can do it." I had to believe in him, but just that initial shock of him being shock left me still reeling and doubting myself. Why wasn't he able to dodge that? Had he not anticipated it or was he trying to assert dominance into the situation by not reacting?

"Here," he sighed. "Sit and watch, but if you tell anyone of any of this, we will have you shut down faster than you can call for your stupid plastic toy."

I gulped, nodding my head, and kept my eyes fixated on the laptop where the screen showed the back of Connor and the face of the android – Daniel – who was holding the young girl near the ledge.

For a moment, my heart skipped a beat because I truly thought that it was Simon there, but it wasn't. Daniel was in a frenzied state. The LED flashed between red and yellow as he felt threatened by his surroundings.

When Daniel dangled the child over the edge, I let out a muffled scream. My hand clamped down over my mouth as I stared wide eyed. I truly thought that that was going to be the end of her, but somehow, Connor managed to talk him out of it and she was brought back against the rogue android's side.

He remained calm as he spoke to the android. He didn't make any sudden movements and kept his hands where they could be easily seen. He even tossed away the gun that he had snatched, causing the men around me to burst into outraged cries.

"When did it take that?"

"Shit! I knew that android couldn't be trusted!"

"It could've used it to kill us!"

I turned my head to glare at all of them. "He could've, but he didn't. Anyone _could've_ taken the gun and shot us all, but no one did because we have something called _self control_ and Connor is no different! All he wants is to help save the little girl. _Just like you_ , so _**stop**_ trying to alienate him!"

There were still a few grumbles, but no one bothered to argue with me. Obviously, these men knew better, unlike the protestors.

"I know it's not your fault. These emotions that you're feeling are just errors in your software," Connor told him as he walked closer to the edge.

"I never wanted this!" Daniel exclaimed. His face showed pain that I had never seen on an android before. It was so raw… It was so tangible that I could feel it tugging at my heart. "I loved them… But I was _nothing_ to them! They were just going to replace me with a newer model!"

Suddenly, the android shook his head in distress.

"What the Hell is it doing?!" Captain Allen cursed after Connor signalled for the helicopter to move away. I was wondering the same thing because he was now left with no backups, but I had to believe in him and his line of logic. He was able to analyse more than what could be seen with the human eye. This better not be something spontaneous.

Daniel began to make a list of demands to make his escape, but Connor shook his head. "Let the girl go and I promise that you won't be hurt."

"I don't want to die…" Daniel confessed, swaying from side to side as if he was trying to comfort himself.

I bit my lips, feeling my eyes begin to well up with tears. He had been so frightened. All he wanted was to stay with the family that he loved, but obviously his loyalty was unrequited. Once the family replaced him, he was either going to be de-activated and destroyed or he was going to have his memories erased before being resold. At least, the latter was an option if he wasn't one of the older models. Most likely, he was going to end up destroyed and dumped into the android graveyard.

"You're not going to die. We're just going to talk," Connor told him. "Nothing will happen to you. You have my word."

"It can't promise that!" an officer growled. "There's no way we're going to let that piece of shit activated to kill anyone else, again!"

Daniel thought about it for a moment. "Okay, I trust you."

I watched with bated breath as he finally let Emma go.

She scrambled away and fell near the pool, unable to move any further as tremours racked through her body.

Connor gave a small nod.

I thought he was acknowledging what Daniel had done. Instead, the android by the ledge was sudden shot in the side. Thirium splattered everywhere as the second and third shot also hit their targets.

Shaking my head, I had to stand up and walk away from the screen. That shouldn't have happened. Daniel had already let the girl go. He didn't deserve to die!

"I trusted you… You gave me your word… Why…?" I heard Daniel say before he fell silent.

I was glad that I had moved away when I did. I didn't think that I was going to be able to stand seeing the forced deactivation.

The door opened and Connor walked in with a smug look on his face.

On one hand, I was glad that he was alright. On the other hand, seeing him betray that android like that… It just didn't feel right.

"You actually did alright, tin can," Captain Allen stated. "Now, get out, so the rest of us can clean up your mess."

Connor nodded and waited by my side for me to finally unfreeze. "Y-You did…" What was I going to say to him? "You saved her," I lamely decided as we walked into the elevator.

"Yes." His hand slipped into his pocket and he began to play with the coin, again.

 _Clink…_

 _Clink…_

I sighed. He was still the Connor I knew. There was just a side of him that was reserved for hostage situations and I knew that he was programmed to protect humans first and foremost. It was one of the default features of the PC200 series. "I'm glad you're okay, Connor. I still can't believe you got yourself shot like that! Didn't I program you better?"

 _Clink…_

"I did not move because there was only a five percent chance that you would've survived," he stated, looking down at me. "You are much short than me. The bullet would've pierced you through the head and not many people survive a trauma like that."

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

My eyes widened. "Oh…"

Connor had gotten shot because of me…

I touched the thirium that was half dried on my face and looked at the lightly viscous substance transferred on to my fingers. I could've been the cause for him dying. "Thank you, Connor."


	16. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

The moment he walked through the door, he had seen the gun pointed at him. He only had two options at that moment: Move away as he was programmed to do because any injuries would decrease his chance of success or stay to save Artie. Her survival rate had dropped to a mere five percent.

It felt as if he was going to disappoint her no matter what he did, but at least, she'd be around to be disappointed in him.

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

He had never seen that error message before. What did it mean? He was going to have to have her make sure that there was nothing wrong with him. He needed to be perfect for her.

Luckily, he managed to defuse the situation and save the little girl. It was unfortunate that the deviant died in the process, but that was a small price to pay. It was old and no one was going to miss it.

When he walked back inside, he was expecting her to throw her arms around him again as she did before he left. She was strangely emotional like that. Instead, she looked as if she couldn't decide what to do. Her heart was still racing and her stress level was high. Why would that be? He had completed the mission as she programmed him to do and he had only sustained minimal damage. She couldn't still be worrying about that?

After entering the elevator, he found himself grabbing for the coin, again. He was glad that she had allowed him to keep it. The small metal object somehow helped to slow down his thirium pump. Every once in a while, it'd quicken and the thirium within him would speed far too quickly. His body would heat up and he knew that if he allowed it to continue too long, it could damage his biocomponents.

By the time they were outside, there was already a car waiting outside. It appeared that she had told Simon to pick them up.

"We're heading to CyberLife Tower. _Connor_ here got himself _shot_ ," she told the other android.

"I believe that all facts about the case are confidential, until further notice," he stated.

She glared at him. "I think he can see for himself that you're bleeding all over our car."

He sat back as he processed that she was still unjustifiably angry at him. Hadn't he already explained himself? She seemed to understand in the elevator. Could her memory be faulty?

Reaching out, he touched the sides of her head to make sure that there were no injuries.

"What are you doing?" She whacked his hands away.

He stared at her as he replied, "I was merely checking that you did not receive any head injuries."

Her eyes softened. "I'm fine. You made sure of that, remember?"

Once they arrived at the tower, the guard there immediately stopped their vehicle.

She glared at the uniformed man at the gate. "I just need to go to the lab to patch him up! He's an RK800 Prototype that was injured during a live testing. I don't need long – "

"Sorry, you don't have the authorisation to enter at this hour," he replied, shaking his head. "Please, come again in the morning. It'll be fine, until then."

With a huff, she signalled for Simon to turn them back around. They were forced to endure her very long rant about people who didn't know what they were doing.

Back at her home, he stood awkwardly in the living room. He had never stayed here past the usual hours, so he wasn't sure of the etiquettes, yet. Was there somewhere designated for him to go into standby mode?

"Come on, I'll fix you up, Connor," she said, walking down the hall and stopped in front of the door beside the library that had been locked in his previous investigation.

She placed her hand on the sensor and the door clicked open. They walked downstairs into the darkness. "Lights on."

The room was suddenly flooded with light, revealing a scanner, metal table, and computer. It resembled a very bare version of the lab. "Get on there. I'll plug you in. It's probably just something superficial, but I want to make sure that none of your biocomponents are damaged, as well."

She walked around, preparing everything for him, while he lay down on to the table.

He could feel the computer interfacing with him and he allowed it to run through all his files. As he lay there, he couldn't help revisiting the memory with the deviant. What caused it to go against all its programming to hurt the humans? What kind of error would cause it to think that it could possibly have emotions?

"All done. Your biocomponents are all unharmed." She let out a sigh of relief before going over to fix the torn, artificial skin. Her small hands moved deftly as she knitted him back together. "I wish that you didn't get hurt because of me," she whispered, smoothing over the slight imperfection that quickly healed over. In a few seconds, it was as if he was never damaged, at all.

"It is my mission to keep you and all humans safe," he reminded her.

"I know, but… If I had just been standing somewhere else, you wouldn't have had to take that shot!" she exclaimed. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

He didn't understand why she was sad, so he asked.

"I'm not sad, Connor!" she huffed. "I'm _angry_! I'm angry for myself for putting you in that position!"

He still didn't understand. There was no reason for her to be angry at herself. She had done nothing wrong. Why was she so intent on blaming herself for something she had no control over?

"Here. Drink all of it and then come upstairs. Please, close the door behind you," she said as she walked away. He could detect that her stress level was finally slowly coming down. Her heart rate was at a more acceptable pace of ninety beats per minute. Still on the higher side, but he no longer had to worry that she was going to have a cardiac arrest.

Once he finished the bottle of Thirium 310, he began to look around. The white room was quite bare. There were the essential machineries to do simply maintenance for androids. There were also random sheets of paper scattered across the desk and a leather-bound journal.

Just as he was about to open it to investigate, a voice made him halt.

"Artie is expecting you upstairs. She may give you _almost_ free reign in the house, but perhaps it's best if you didn't snoop around too much," Simon stated, staring pointedly at him.

He tilted his head. There was something about this android that reminded him of Daniel and it wasn't just because they belong to the same series. There was… just… something…

 _CRASH!_

They both looked up at the doorway.

"I'm alright! Sorry, I just knocked over the chair!" she shouted.

Turning to look at Simon one more time, he walked up the stairs, knowing that the other android was staring at the back of his head.

"Sorry!" she apologised, again, when she saw them. "I was trying to put the chair back, but I tripped over the rug!"

Simon smiled. "You should have called for me. I could've assisted you."

She shrugged, grinning sheepishly back at him. "No worries. I can move chairs by myself just fine!"

Connor wasn't quite sure that that was the case. She had clearly struggled with the action.

"Alright, Connor. I'm going to go get ready for bed in a few minutes. You can just… do whatever you like, but please don't hurt yourself anymore and don't get your killed. There are some weird people out there just waiting to get a piece of you."

"I cannot be killed, so there is no need to worry," he stated with a small frown. Why were there people trying to get a piece of him? He was only useful when he was whole.

He looked down at his hands. Would they take his fingers first? What would they do with it?

Spotting his confusion, she let out a burst of laughter. "They're not going to actually tear you apart. Well, they might… But unlikely. What I meant is that they all want to vent out their anger on an android. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

What strange sayings…

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

I'm not putting a lot of these notes in this story, but I'm hoping for some suggestions. I'm not sure about the title to this story, so I was wondering if there are any suggestions.

Here are a few I thought of:

1\. Forbidden Desires  
2\. Software Instability  
3\. Forbidden Fruit  
4\. Desire (Current Title)  
5\. Connor vs. Simon  
6\. Artemisia  
7\. Humanity  
8\. Other suggestions! Thaaanks!


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

I swirled around in my new swirly chair, watching as Connor frowned at me. "Why are you looking at me that way?" I asked, still in constant motion.

"I do not understand your actions," he stated. "What is its purpose?"

My feet stomped down, finally halting. "It doesn't have to have a purpose, Connor. I enjoy it, therefore I do it." Standing up, I went over to him and pushed him into the chair.

"I really don't believe – "

And then with much effort, I began to spin the chair, again. He sat stiffly, obviously not feeling the same joy as me when I was in his position. "Come on, Connor. You're such a spoil sport," I huffed, leaning against the back.

"I apologise. It was not my intention to spoil this sport, but I do not find this an effective method of exercise," he replied.

I blinked before tilting my head and laughed.

"Why are you laughing? I have not said anything funny!" There was a tone of indignation in his voice that only made me laugh harder.

Suddenly, there was a sharp voice that made me freeze. I stared at the blonde woman who was glaring at me with her arms crossed. "I can't believe what I'm seeing… What is he thinking putting you in here? This was supposed to be _my_ office!"

Connor immediately stood up. His LED was yellow. "The company roster has never listed you in this room. He was very clear that this belongs to Artemisia, now." The next words that came out of his mouth were not of his voice. " _Good. You haven't, yet, and I hope this keeps up. Oh, and I have an office prepared for you on this floor. Make yourself comfortable there_."

It was strange hearing Mr. Graff's voice coming from Connor, but I was impressed with how well the voice recording came out. I really couldn't hear a difference, at all.

"I don't believe what you or your plastic toy says!" she hissed. "I will take this up to Mr. Graff and he will make this right!"

"Lina, stop this. I don't know why you think I'm doing all of this to spite you," I said. "But we're both just trying to do our best here. I really don't want to fight with you or have whatever this feud is over nothing."

That was probably not the right thing to say because her face turned as red as her glasses. "You don't understand because you're a young, little girl who doesn't understand how this world works! You've managed to worm your way up here, while I've been stuck down there for the past four years. How is that fair?!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but perhaps you _should_ go to Mr. Graff about your issues because there is _nothing_ I can do to help you," I replied with gritted teeth. She was truly beginning to irritate me. My good mood was always being stomped on by everyone. This really needed to stop!

She clacked her heels towards me. "I will _make sure_ that you're out of here by the end of the week. I'm sure by now, you know you're not very popular amongst us. It's not going to be hard to have the others corroborate with me."

"I do not understand why you wish to do her harm, but I cannot allow it to happen," Connor told her.

"Of course, you don't," she scoffed. "You're nothing but a machine. No wonder you're some dim though, with a creator like that."

Connor let out an uncharacteristic huff. "I can assure you that I am the most advance android you will find thus far. There is nothing dim about my creator or me. Assuming so will only put you at a disadvantage."

I gently touched his arm. "Lina, please, go. I really don't want to keep arguing with you. Insulting my android and me isn't going to solve anything."

She narrowed her eyes. "No… No it wouldn't…"

Finally, she left and I was able to breathe easy, again. "Well, that was tense."

"It seems that she is planning something," Connor told me. "Perhaps you should be cautious."

"I'm sure she's harmless. She's been talking trash ever since I started working here. Her bark is worse than her bite," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"I would heavily advise you to be on the side of caution," he repeated. "It will do no good to be careless, especially when you are not an android. You cannot be replaced."

I looked at him in surprise before a small smile spread across my lips. "You're not replaceable, either, Connor. None of you are. Just because your memories can be transferred from one body to another, it doesn't mean that it's the same you. Most transfers are not perfect and you will lose parts of yourself."

"Memories are not important for androids," he stated. "As long as we complete our missions, our purpose has been served."

No matter what I said, he was convinced that he was nothing but a machine. While Simon seemed to understand this concept, Connor was still completely clueless.

"Never mind. Thank you for defending me, Connor." I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "I was only doing my job as your android."

…

The official day of my promotion involved a nice pay cheque and a nice conversation with Connor after his first official mission. He spoke of his partner who seemed to be a drunk idiot, but of course, he didn't seem too perturbed.

I knew that he was going to be fine. Everyone liked him and the lieutenant would be no different. Besides, Captain Fowler was fond of him already, so I knew that he would be well taken care of.

To be honest, though, it wasn't him that I was worried about. It was strange not being able to spend time everyday with him. I was going to have to take a deep breath and let him spread his wings.

When I returned home, I was ready for a redemption dinner. "Simon! We're going to go out to eat! I just got a promotion today and we are definitely going to go somewhere fancy!"

He smiled at me. "Congratulations, Artie."

"Thanks!

I went straight up to my room and pulled out the black dress. I was confident that this was going to be perfect! Since what happened last time, I had done my research on where android protestors corralled and which establishments were anti-android. This one was definitely pro-android. It had an impressive line of them as servers.

Not long after, I was properly dress and ready to go.

Simon was as well kept as ever. His hair was combed neatly to the side and his uniform was immaculate. "I'm so excited!" I cheered, looking at him as I opened the door.

When I turned back around, I froze in my tracks, nearly bumping into the person standing just outside.

"What are you doing here?!"


	18. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

"Is that any way to greet a friend?" she asked.

I narrowed my eyes. Friend? How could she even utter that word to me after our encounter, today? "What are you doing here?" I repeated, crossing my arms. If she thought I was just going to allow her in, she was mistaken.

Her thin lips curled into a smirk. "Really, are you Brits all so rude? When a guest arrives, you should invite them in. Hasn't daddy taught you any manners?"

"Ms. Sanchez, you are not welcomed here. Please, leave before I call for the police," Simon stated, stepping out from behind me.

She waved her hand and suddenly, three androids came out of her red car. There were two WR400 series androids and a WB200.

"Really? You brought two Tracis and your gardener?" I gave her an incredulous look. "Why are they even here? Clearly, I have no interest in engaging in any of your androids and I don't need anyone to water my plants."

She laughed. "Why don't you invite us in and find out?"

"No, Lina. I have somewhere to be and I'll be late if I don't go, now, so if you _please."_ I tried to brush past here, but immediately bumped into one of the male Tracis who grabbed my arm. "Hey, let go!"

She ordered them to bring us back into the house. Simon tried to help, but the other two androids easily seized him and the door closed before of the neighbours could even peek out the window to see what the commotion was.

I was thrown carelessly on to the floor by the television and Simon was held to the side. "What do you even hope to accomplish by doing this? The police will find out and you're going to go to prison."

She sneered down at me. "Who said that the police will find out that it was me? Once you're out of the way, Mr. Graff will have no reason not to give me the promotion, instead!"

"That isn't how it works," I tried to tell her. "If he wanted to promote you from the start, he would've done it _years_ ago. Obviously, he didn't think you deserved it! Killing me isn't going to do you any good, so why don't you just let me have my dinner out and I'll pretend that this never happened."

"No, you are in no position to make demands." From her expensive, leather purse, she produced a gun.

I bit my lips as I stared at the end of the barrel. Alright, perhaps this wasn't the time to argue with her, but what could I even do to convince her not to kill me? That was the entire reason she was here.

Looking over to Simon, I could see that his LED was red. He was just as stressed out as I was. His eyes were scanning the room, looking to see what options we had, but I didn't think we had many. Perhaps he was able to call the police before she managed to put a bullet through my head.

I looked to the side as she continued to talk. "You know, when you first joined us, I _really_ wanted to like you, but you were just so… unlikeable. You never had anything good to say. All you did was work. I even began to think that you were an android yourself."

What were my options? I couldn't just sit here and hope for the best. There had to be something I could do.

"I guess I'll find out today if you bleed red or blue."

The gun cocked and I reached for a book that was sitting delicately on the television stand. I was going to regret it later, but at least I'd have a later. In the next second, the tome went sailing through the air and hit her just as she fired the gun, causing her to let out a surprised cry.

As quickly as I could, I pushed the gardener away and Simon was free to pry the Traci from his other side.

There was another loud bang when her aim missed a second time.

A flurry of random movements left Simon and me side by side with one of the Tracis crawling on the floor. His thirium pump regular had been yanked out and still in Simon's hand.

"Have you called the police?" I hissed at him.

He gave me a small affirmative nod. "They should be arriving shortly."

"Get them!" Lina screamed at the two remaining androids.

I dove to the side to dodge a pair of arms, while Simon did the same. Everything I did was out of instinct. Several times, the WB200 managed to land a hit. One particular one left me breathless on my knees and clutching my side.

 _Bang!_

A second point of pain hit me in the shoulder when Lina finally managed to sink a bullet into me.

"Artie!" Simon shouted, pushing the remaining Traci away to get to me.

Just then, I saw the glint of the gun shift. "No!"

Somehow, I managed to break through the pain and lunge myself at the woman who barely missed my blonde android. "Stop this, Lina! This is madness! Is this really worth a stupid promotion?!" If I could, I would even give it away at this point. It wasn't worth losing Simon over it.

" _I will fuckin' get rid of you_!" she screamed.

She tried to aim the gun at me, but I managed to whack her hand away and the weapon flew off to the side. We continued to struggle, until there was a familiar click.

We both looked to see Simon pointing the gun at Linda.

Her androids began to move forward to try to take it away from him, but Simon quickly shouted, "One more movement and I will shoot her!"

"Stop moving, you idiots!" Lina shouted at them.

I slowly got off her and backed away. "Don't shoot her, Simon. The police will probably be here shortly. They can deal with this." I didn't want him to get into trouble. With the unrest and this _deviancy_ , I wasn't sure that the police were going to get the right person with Simon holding the gun.

I walked over to the WB200 and quickly put it to sleep before doing the same to the WR400.

Now, it was just Lina and the two of us.

"Simon, we should tie her up and then wait for – "

 _Bang!_

There was a piercing scream that rang through the air.

My ears were ringing as I stumbled around to see Lina on the floor, holding her stomach that was bleeding profusely. Her other hand had dropped the knife.

"T-They'll get you, you _bitch_ ," she spat out. "I t-told you you were…" Her eyes glazed over and then, she was gone.

"I'm sorry, Artie," Simon quietly said. "She was going to hurt you. I couldn't allow her to do it."

I turned back to him and put my hand on his cheek. "It's not your fault, but…"

"I apologise. I do not know what made me do that," he stated, cutting me off. "I saw you in danger and… And I couldn't even stop my finger from pulling the trigger."

His LED continued to flash red as he tried to process what he wanted to do.

"I know… Thank you, Simon. I probably would've been dead if it wasn't for you," I said.

Suddenly, he leaned down and pressed his lips on mine, making me gasp. My eyes stared widely at him for only a moment before they fluttered shut. His lips were soft and smooth. They were also warm and brought tingles down my spine. He broke away too quickly and I felt myself leaning in to try to keep the contact, but he had already turned his face away.

"Simon…"

"I should not have done that…" he mumbled. "I did not mean to take advantage of you."

Instead of replying, I pressed my lips against his. He wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer and when we finally broke away, once more, I knew that this was going to be the only time we could ever do this.

I turned back to the dead body in the centre of my living room. Why did this have to happen? Just when I was finally getting settled in; just when everything was finally looking up…

And Simon…

The sirens finally approached.

Of course, they always came here too late…


	19. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

Lieutenant Hank Anderson was a strange man. His hatred for androids was obvious, but despite this, he had been surprisingly civil, even if he _did_ threaten to crush him like an empty beer can. That was another thing. The lieutenant drank more alcohol than was healthy, especially for a man his age, but he found the weakness to be something easily exploited. An offer of a free drink had finally made him compliant enough to listen to what he had to say.

His first mission involved Carlos Ortiz and the deviant who had stabbed him twenty-eight times. From what was uploaded into his CPU, he knew that typically, this was a crime of passion. Unfortunately, androids did not feel passion. They did not feel, at all, so what made it do that?

Even hearing it speak, he could not understand why it thought it could feel anything. The error was troublesome and he needed to get to the bottom of this. The only clue he had found thus far was something called rA9 that was worshipped and the deviant's last words to him, "The truth is inside." He didn't know what to make of it, so he stored them both in his processor.

At the moment, he was back at the police station, waiting for the lieutenant to arrive. He waited five minutes before looking around his desk. It was messy. He had left several personal items strewn about, including a music player, a Detroit Basketball cap, a photo of his old Red Ice Task Force team, and many anti-android slogan stickers. Was he one of those protestors, at one point? He really hoped not. He didn't want a partner who was capable of hurting an innocent woman in the park like Artie.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant." He nodded his head at the man who just walked in.

"Aww, Jesus!" came the exclamation.

It appeared that the lieutenant was less than happy to see him. That was to be expected. There was nothing he could do about it but to follow whatever he said. He was here to aid in the cases regarding deviants and he was not going to stop, until the mission was done.

As he stood in the Captain's office, listening to the two men argue, he suddenly picked up on a familiar voice shouting outside. He turned to look through the glass door and spotted her being escorted in by two officers. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was trying to tell them that she was innocent.

"What on Earth…" Captain Fowler pushed out of the room to approach the officers.

"Oh, for fuck's sake… What's going on, now…" Hank grumbled, slowly following the other man.

Connor wasn't far behind. He couldn't understand why she was being brought here and a quick scan told him that she was injured. Why weren't they providing her medical attention? Even to the human eye, they should be able to spot the blood-soaked clothing. Her shoulder had been pierced by a bullet and her face was scratched up.

"What is going on here?" Captain Fowler demanded.

"Sir, a dispatcher received a call, but no response, so we went to investigate. We found her in front of a deceased Lina Sanchez and three deactivated androids. None of them belonged to her, but there's record that she does own one. I suspect that it had run off after killing the woman," the officer surmised.

The captain muttered a string of curses under his breath and knew that there was nothing he could do when a homicide was involved. Patch her up and then bring her to the interrogation room!"

Not once did she say a word or even look at him. Connor knew that he had to get to the bottom of this. From what he gathered, she would never kill anyone, even when Lina Sanchez had obviously stressed her out that day. In fact, he recalled it was the other woman who had threatened her harm.

"Hey, where are ya going?!" the Lieutenant shouted at him as he followed the trio to the small medical office.

He watched as the nurse silently looked over her wounds without even speaking a word to her. She was already being treated like a convict.

When the nurse took out a pair of scissors and began to cut away her shirt, he spoke up. "Perhaps it is better if you uncuffed her, instead."

"We know you're her little pet project. If we released her, you're going to break her free!"

He sighed. "No. I was merely suggesting a more efficient way to – "

"Come on, let them do their job." Hank pulled him away from the scene and threw him against the wall. "If she's innocent, then nothing will happen to her. If she allowed her android to kill a woman, then perhaps she deserves to be roughened up a bit."

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

Connor glared at him, but kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to give any information that he didn't have to, but Hank was right in some sense. Once there was solid proof that she hadn't done anything wrong, she was going to be freed. Simon, however… He didn't know what happened to it.

Had the coward ran away to save itself and leave her to deal with the consequences?

If he ever found the deviant, he was going to make sure that he was going to be deactivated for betraying his owner.

"Connor! Get in here!" Captain Fowler barked.

He followed the man to the interrogation room where the deviant had been in just a few days prior.

She was already seated at the chair, but her hands were cuffed in front of her, now. He also noted how her shirt had a large hole, revealing the bandages. A part of her undergarment could be seen and it was obvious that the detective could see it, too.

His eyes would constantly glance over to the pale flesh and it made Connor want to stop their interaction immediately.

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_


	20. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

"Where is he?!" Drops of spit splattered the table as he slammed his hand down, shouting at me.

I let out a small sigh. "I don't know," I repeated for the hundredth time. This had been going on for the past hour or two and I was exhausted.

Even though the very rude medical worker had bandaged my bullet wound, I was sore all over. I was also pretty sure that my wound had started bleeding again after the officers dragged me into this room.

I really wished they hadn't ruined my shirt. I felt so… exposed... I wanted to wrap my arms around myself and cover up.

It was nice that Connor had spoken up for me, but it was probably best that he didn't. Captain Fowler had given me false hope that he would be well accepted. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, at all. Their hatred of him was just shy of dismantling him for fear of losing their jobs.

If I had known that this would happen… Would I still have been able to allow him to work here?

He didn't seem too concerned with the way he was being treated. Perhaps I was over thinking this. He was doing fine. I was projecting my own insecurities on him.

Looking to the side, I could barely recognise myself. A pale, gaunt face stared back at me with large, blank eyes. It felt as if this day was never-ending and I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

I wondered if I had not wanted to go out to celebrate if things could've been different. Every time I decide to do something spontaneous and fun, it never went well. Perhaps I could've avoided this entire time. I knew that if I saw her at the door, I would never have opened it. Just that could've changed everything.

Maybe Simon would still be with me…

I missed him so much…

"Are you listening to me?!" the dark-haired man growled, slamming his hand on the table, once more.

What was his name, again?

I dug through my brain to search for the name, but none came He had said it so quickly as if he only did it because of formality. Of course, it was only for formality's sake. Who in their right mind would want to have a pleasant chat with a potential murderer? I knew I wouldn't…

But usually, I'd be better at remembering names. I really couldn't seem to function properly. What was wrong with me?

"If you don't answer me, _right now_ , I will throw your ass into a cell!" he continued to threaten.

"Alright, Reed! That's enough!" The older gentleman who was with Connor shouted.

Right, the man in front of me was Detective Gavin Reed and he was an absolute asshole. He kept asking the same questions over and over again as if I was going to say anything different. I had already told him exactly what had happened – how Lina had come into my house and fully intended to kill me, but Simon saved my life. The detective seemed to glaze over the first part and focused on trying to find out where Simon had gone. If the first hour hadn't clued him in on anything, I didn't think anything would.

"Stay out of it, Anderson! She's the only link we have to a missing deviant!" he protested.

"Perhaps if you'd allow me to – " Connor was quickly cut off by the enraged detective.

"No! We _all_ know that you're biased! How do I know that you're not going to work together to fool us all?" Reed snarled. I watched nervously as his hand inched towards his gun.

…

Connor didn't want to go through that, again. Last time, the detective had also pointed a gun at him. Hank was the one who stopped him from shooting. It was best to avoid the same situation, again. She didn't need to be more stressed out than she already was. "I only want to help. My sole mission is to find out the root of the problem with deviants. Since I know her, she may be more compliant to listen to me. Yelling at her as you are doing now doesn't seem to be leading us anywhere."

Reed looked at the Captain for support, but when the larger man agreed with the android, he stood up with a huff and stomped off.

"You have fifteen minutes or I'm pulling you out, as well," Captain Fowler barked, slamming the door shut behind him.

He sat down in front of her, noting how her face was downcast, once more. There was a dark bruise forming on the left side that could barely be seen through her curtain of hair. "Artie, I only want to help. I know that you're trying to protect Simon, but it's only an android. It is replac – "

" _He_ is not an _it_!" she shouted, glaring at him.

He was taken aback by the conviction in her eyes. She had never looked at him in such a way before.

She looked back down and with a soft voice, she went on. "He's not replaceable… And he saved my life, Connor. He's the reason I'm alive, right now. Lina came to my house and was going to kill me. She brought the three androids, tossed me into my own home and pointed her gun at me. I don't even own a gun, Connor! I've never even touched one before! We were going to just tie her up after Simon managed to get it from her, but… She came at me with a knife, so he shot her.

"Did you really think that I wanted her to die?!" The tears streamed down her face, making him shift.

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_ _._

"You saw how she was with me, that day. She was already threatening my life. This was all done in self-defense," she sighed, reaching up to try to wipe away her tears, but found the chains to be too short.

The fat droplets of water splashed against the metal surface.

"I…" he hesitated. "I believe you, but we still have to it – _him._ If he ran to save himself, then he has already become a deviant and it is my mission to stop them."

She shook her head. "Is it? Is it really your mission to kill an innocent person?"

"Androids are not people. They cannot be killed." The words came out automatically, but he actually wondered what would happen once he found the deviant. He had come to know Simon and would even consider it a… _friend_.

Connor wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. He believed her when she said she didn't know where Simon had gone. A deviant was unpredictable. That wasn't her fault.

"Did Simon mention something called rA9?" he asked, thinking about the previous deviant who spoke about it with such reverie. He had to know what the common ground was. Perhaps then, he'd be able to solve this.

She shook her head. "No, he's never said anything like that. Connor, he didn't want even want to leave. I... I was the one who ordered him to go," she quietly said. "I knew that the police would want to kill him if he remained in the house. I couldn't let that happen."

She was holding something back, but he didn't know what and she wasn't volunteering the information. "Tell me everything, Artie. I need to know everything to help you." He reached over to touch her hand. From what he gathered, she drew comfort from contact.

Her mouth opened, but she stopped and shook her head, again. "There's nothing more I can say. I'm sorry, Connor. If you must arrest me, then do it now. I have no more energy to fight you. Please, I'm tired. I'm so tired..."

He felt his system blank out for a moment. He didn't know what to do and it was a strange occurrence. He was torn between interrogating her more to aid in his mission and complying to her wishes.

"I think we've gotten enough information out of her," Captain Fowler stated when he entered the room.

Connor nodded, relieved that the options were taken away from him. He wasn't sure if he would've been able to choose the correct one.

"Anderson, take her to the hospital. She's bled through the bandages," Fowler said.

The lieutenant grumbled to himself as Artie was finally released from the cuffs. "Alright, off you go. Don't -"

Connor leapt forward and caught her just before she hit the floor. "She has passed out from blood loss and exhaustion." Her heart rate was slow and there was a sheen of sweat that covered her face. He should've stopped sooner. How was he any better than Detective Reed?


	21. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

The hospital made quick work of her injuries and didn't ask too many questions once Hank showed them his badge. That didn't mean that they didn't keep shooting her looks and assuming why she ended up like this.

There words held no filters. They accused her of the most heinous crimes. Some were logical, some were extremely far-fetched. He wanted to tell them that there hadn't been a case of anthrax for many decades, now.

At one point, the lieutenant became fed up and shouted at the latest pair of nurses who were speaking too loudly in the room. That seemed to shut them all up, at least, within hearing range.

"God, damn it…" he grumbled. "This was not what I signed up for. I'm no baby sitter! Now, I have _two_ babies to sit for! The Hell do they think I am…?"

"Neither of us are babies," Connor helpfully stated. "I also do not require any sitting."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Well, she's in good hands. We don't need to wait here, anymore."

"No," he quickly protested. "We need to be here to make sure that she is alright. How is anyone to know she requires assistance if no one is in the room?"

"Someone will come to check up on her every once in a while, there's no need to – "

"We are staying, lieutenant," he adamantly stated, crossing his arms and refusing to remove himself from his seat by the bed.

Hank huffed before trying to make himself more comfortable on the hard, plastic chair. "So… Why did she make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?"

"Artie had spent many weeks experimenting before deciding. All CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. She has created me specifically to facilitate my integration," he answered.

"Well, she fucked up," he retorted, staring at him.

He felt a surge of dislike run through him. "She has been very meticulous with her creation. Every decision made was not done lightly. She had done surveys after surveys before settling on this."

Hank continued to stare at him before giving a small nod. "You're pretty damn loyal, aren't ya? How do I know you didn't go easy on her in the room?"

"I would never do that. She had designed me to be thorough without discrimination," he replied and he wished that she hadn't. He didn't like seeing her in such duress.

He found that he was also disappointed in himself. She should never have gotten hurt. He should've been there to protect her.

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

He couldn't keep thinking about her. It was doing something to his central processing unit and he didn't think it was good for him. Instead, he decided to report back to Amanda.

The zen garden was just as he remembered it. He had only been here once before after it was installed into him. He was instructed to not tell Artie about it and he couldn't understand why. Perhaps it was confidential and they didn't want her to know about it.

He walked along the edge of the water, glancing at his reflection as he did so.

"Ah, Connor…" Amanda turned around as he approached her. "How did the mission go? Did you find out anything about the deviants?"

He looked down. "Nothing new. The latest case doesn't involve rA9, at all, so I don't know if that is still the common factor between all of them." He couldn't seem to get anywhere with this and he could tell that Amanda was disappointed at him by the way she was frowning.

"Is that so?" she cryptically stated. "I see that your creator has encountered some issues of her own. Do you find it suspicious? An engineer like herself possessing a deviant… Don't you think she should've seen the signs – fixed it before it escalated?"

He didn't know. He never witnessed the moment when an android became deviant. It could be instantaneous or it could be a gradual progress. "I don't know," he truthfully replied. "All I know is that she was not legally liable for her actions to defend herself and she has been appropriated exonerated."

She hummed, disinterestedly. "Just remember what your mission is and don't lose your way."

His eyes snapped open and they quickly flitted over to the bed when he heard her stir. Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to sit up, but immediately let out a groan and fell back down. "It is unwise to move so quickly after passing out as you did."

He hadn't expected her to let out a laugh and he was even more confused when the laughter turned into tears. How could she be both sad and happy at the same time? There must've been an error that was causing her emotions to crosswire with each other. "Are you broken, Artie? Would you like me to call for assistance?"

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Hank slapping his face with the palm of his hands.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked the lieutenant, not sure why the man was reacting in such a way.

It was Artie who ended up responding. "No, Connor," she sighed. "You're perfect the way you are."

He used to believe those words, but after today, he wasn't so sure. If he was perfect, he would never have pushed her to the point of unconsciousness. He was also receiving errors every once in a while. These should not be occurring if he was, indeed, perfect. He couldn't, however, tell her that when she was still in distress.

"Alright, you're awake. You're also free of all charges. We're going, now," Hank said, standing up to stretch his bones. They creaked loudly, but Connor decided not to mention that he should probably be taking supplements for it.

"Wait," Connor protested, again.

"What is it, now?" A glare was thrown his way.

He opened his mouth to explain himself, but found that he had no valid explanation. She was awake and could call for assistance when she required it. There was really no reason for him to stay any longer.

Defeated, he stood up and began to follow Hank out.

Just as he reached the door, he turned back around. "Artie, I'm truly sorry for putting you in this state. It was never my intention to cause you any damage. In fact, I would very much like it if I could protect you from all forms of harm. If I had been doing my job probably, all this could be prev – "

"Alright, lover boy. It's time to go." Hank pulled him out of the room and gave her a quick departing nod.

He watched her smile back before the door closed in his face.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

I can't believe I've actually updated 21 days in a row... That's _three weeks_! Even though they're only around 1k to 2k words each, I'm pretty proud that I've somehow managed to keep this up.


	22. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

Once Connor was gone, the smile disappeared.

The gravity of what had happened weighed heavy on my chest. Just a day ago, I had been elated. Things couldn't have gone better for me. Now, it was all gone.

 _It was all gone…_

I gently touched my lips where he had left his lingering presence on me. It was almost cruel for him to do this to me.

Before the incident, I never even suspected that he could possibly have feelings for me. I knew that Simon was different from all the other androids. I guess I just never knew by how much.

Those emotions, I was sure, was the reason why he had ended up killing Lina. Did that mean he was a deviant? He didn't behave as androids should and had a mind of his own that contradicted those of his orders. If he hadn't done that, I would've been dead…

Had he become a deviant because of me or was it a long time coming?

A puff of air left my lips.

The likelihood was that I was never going to see him again. No doubt the police would be patrolling my neighbourhood in case he ever came back and I knew that he was smart enough to avoid there.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as a soft knock and a peek of a head made me look at the visitor. "Hello, dear. I've spoken with the doctor. Your physical check and blood work are all normal. Do you have any severe pains anywhere? If not, you can be discharged any time you're ready. I have your prescription here." She smiled kindly at me, while I blinked blankly, trying to figure out what she had said. Her patience told me that she was used to it.

"Yes, I'd love to go home," I quietly told her.

Home...

Home without Simon.

I picked up my medication from the pharmacy and took a taxi back to the house and found it taped off. There were still police officers there.

"Miss, you can't come in. This is an official crime scene."

Still? Hadn't we gone through everything already?

I just wanted to close my eyes and pretend that this was all a horrible nightmare.

"I live here," I told the oblivious officer. I was too tired to put any strength into it.

He looked uncertainly back at me and addressed the dark figure by the doorway.

The man turned around. My heart sank.

Detective Gavin Reed.

Of course, who else would still be here, trying to look for evidence that didn't exist? I had told him everything, except for the kiss, which was absolutely none of his or anyone else's business.

"Sorry, we are conducting an official police investigation here and no one is permitted in, including you," he stated with a sneer on his face.

I closed my eyes. "Then where am I to go? I need rest. I just want to go to bed. Can I go through the back door? I won't even touch any part of the _crime scene_."

"No can do," he replied as if he was just denying me of a lolli. "We can't be certain that there is evidence in other parts of the house. Maybe even a clue to what made your android become deviant. Perhaps you should've stayed at the hospital longer if you were really that unwell."

"It's not as if I knew you were going to be here," I hissed, feeling a sudden burst of anger at his smugness. "Are you even allowed here after I've been removed of all charges? Can I at least get my car keys?!"

He chose this very moment to walk away and I wanted to follow him, but the grunt officer stood in my way. "Sorry." He apologetically smiled at me.

I dropped to the grassy lawn and just laid there. This was it. I was exhausted. If I wasn't allowed inside the house or gain access to my car, then this was going to do.

"H-Hey, you're not really just going to sleep here, are you?"

I did feel rather bad for him. He could probably see how morally wrong this was and could do nothing about it. That didn't mean that I wasn't in the same situation. I had no other options, so this was it for me, until they decide to finally leave me alone.

There as a long moment of quiet where the only noise was the mumbling from within the house. I found sleep actually spreading through my consciousness, relaxing my aching muscles.

I wondered where Simon had gone. Was he safe? Did the anti-android protestors get a hold of him? That wouldn't be good, but if he turned deviant, he was going to be able to defend himself. He was no longer governed by his programming.

Was that what made them deviant? Daniel was the same model. From what I gathered, he was going to be replaced and deactivated by the father whom he killed. He had been afraid of death. He had been afraid of leaving Emma forever, so he did everything he could to stop it from happening. He broke all the codes that made him something to be controlled.

Simon must've gone deviant because of me, but that didn't mean he was evil. He didn't deserve to be persecuted for saving my life. If I told the DPD that, would they only twist my words and use it against me?

If I told Connor, would he finally see me as a convict? His interrogation had left me more rattled than I thought. I knew he was only trying to accomplish his mission as I had programmed him to do, but…

No, it was me. Just because I made him, I thought I was going to have some sort of special treatment. That wasn't how it worked, was it? The law was the law and Connor was going to do anything he could to upkeep it.

"The fuck are you doing down there?!"


	23. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

"Please, Lieutenant, I just want to have a look at the house. There has to be something we've missed that could help with the case," he told the man who had already seated himself at Jimmy's Bar with his first drink in hand.

"Ah, fuck off! I've had a long day staring at your weird ass face. Leave me alone!" he grunted back.

With a frown, he tried to figure out how he could bribe the Lieutenant. Last time, he offered him a free drink and it worked. This time, he calculated that this would only have a thirty percent chance of success because he had only just started drinking.

"Fine, I guess Detective Reed will be the one heading this case. It won't be long before Captain Fowler promotes him to Lieutenant," he idly said, casting him a sideways glance.

Hank turned his head with a dry look on his face.

Hiding a grin, Connor knew that he had successfully convinced the Lieutenant.

He actually wasn't sure what the detective was doing, but he seemed particularly invested in this case after being told off by Captain Fowler.

That was only one reason why Connor wanted to check on the house. Artie might be back and he wasn't sure if she should be home alone. She was used to having an android assist her. As her creation, he should do his best to help her, especially since she was injured.

Of course, he also didn't like the look Gavin Reed gave her. The detective had stared for far longer than was appropriate. It was unacceptable.

His eyes slowly opened when the car began to roll to a stop. Hank let out a long sigh before exiting the vehicle. Once he did, he let out a loud exclamation. "The fuck are you doing down there?!"

Connor turned to see Artie lying on the grass in front of her house. For 0.015 seconds, he thought that she was dead, but once the scan was complete, he knew that she was only in a resting state. Her chest moved slowly and there was small movement behind her eyelids.

At Hank's voice, she began to stir and looked over to them. Her eyes ran over the Lieutenant before settling on him. "What are you doing here? Aren't you off work, now?"

"Don't ignore me!" Hank huffed. "Answer my question, first!"

"Sorry, what did you ask? I didn't hear." With a grimace, she sat up and ran her hand through her hair. Bits of grass and dirt stuck to the back of her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing on the damn ground like some fuckin' hobo?" he growled, observing the rest of the scene in front of him. "Don't tell me it's – !"

Right at that moment, Detective Reed walked out with a smug smirk on his face. "I don't believe you were invited here, Anderson. Get off my crime scene!"

Looking quite red in the face, Hank stormed over to the other man, completely ignoring the startled officer who was debating whether to tell him off or not.

Connor turned to Artie and crouched down, gently brushing away the blades of grass. "I hope you are alright. What are you doing outside? The temperature is only thirty-six degrees and there is sixty percent chance of precipitation, tonight."

She sighed. "I _would_ go in if I could, but they have my house completely off limits. I have nowhere else to go, Connor."

He looked down. His LED was flashing yellow as he ran over all the options she had. "Perhaps you could stay at a nearby hotel?"

"I don't have any money… They won't let me get anything, at all," she told him with a shake of her head.

"They cannot do that. It is against your human rights. I shall inform Detective Reed," he told her.

She grabbed his sleeve before he could go anywhere. "No, Connor. He doesn't seem to like you very much. I don't want you to get into any trouble because of me. Workplace relationship is very important. I think this incident kind of proves that."

"But – "

"Come on, kid. Get up from there," Hank barked as he walked back.

They looked over to see that the officers were starting to pack up. The tape stayed, but the detective left with a glare on his face, not letting them forget that he was unhappy.

With Connor's help, she managed to get to her feet, swaying with the wind and looking as fragile as a porcelain doll. He carefully guided her up the short flight of steps and into the house.

She let out a small whine and he wondered if he had done something to displease her. "I don't want to be alone…" Her eyes were wide as she stared pleadingly at him. "W-Will you stay with me?"

Connor looked uncertainly at Hank who rolled his eyes and gave him the answer he needed. "Take it. As long as I'm not gonna get in trouble for returning it to the station, I'd rather not have it in my house, anyway. Damn thing will probably snoop around."

"He's not a thing – " Her weak protest was cut off by the slam of the door as the Lieutenant drove his car away without even looking back. "Sorry, Connor. Did I… Did I make it worse for you?"

He shook his head. "From what I have experienced, Lieutenant Hank Anderson has always been this way with me. He has an aversion towards androids."

She looked down. "I'm sorry, Connor. I didn't think that they'd treat you like this at the DPD. If I did, I would never have forced you to go through this every day."

A smile quirked his lips upward. "It is no problem, Artie. I am confident that your programming will allow me to win him over."

That seemed to decrease her stress level and her eyes began to droop. "Do you require assistance to get into bed?"

She shook her head. "I should be okay. I just need to change my clothes, but I should also get a shower first. I'm feeling pretty nasty."

"It is best if you do not get your wound wet. Perhaps I can wipe you down with a damp towel, instead," he suggested, thinking that this was the most logical course of action, but her face immediately lit up. Her temperature had risen and he suddenly feared that she may be getting a fever.

"N-No! You don't have to do that. I can manage. Just wait… wherever you want. It doesn't matter!" With that, she quickly fled into the bathroom, slamming the door loudly behind her.

When she was gone, Connor turned to the blood stain on the carpet. Not once had she even glanced at it. Avoidance wasn't going to help her recover from the trauma. It was better than she faced it sooner rather than later. Perhaps he could suggest the new benefit package she had received upon her promotion. It would cover the cost of all medical expenses, including visits to a therapist when needed.

He calculated that there was a twenty-one percent chance she was actually going to heed his words and a seventy-two percent chance that she was going to just tell him to 'shut up.'

As he heard the shower faucet turn off, he stood in front of the door, ready to assist her when needed. She was very stubborn. If she had given him the chance, he could've told her that the chance of her slipping in the tub and gravely injuring herself was high in her current condition.

The door slowly creaked open and his optical unit took in the sight of her completely naked. Water was still dripping down from her hair and body.

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

She stared at him with wide eyes and tried futilely to cover herself up with her arms, while he stared blankly at her. "W-What are you doing standing there?!"

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

"I…" There were many reasons – logical reasons – as to why he was standing there, but at that very moment, he couldn't seem to find any of them in his queue of responses. "Why are you unclothed?" he finally managed to blurt out and he immediately knew that it wasn't the correct response when she quickly slammed the door back in his face.

"I forgot my clothes and those stupid officers used up all my clean towels!" Her voice was muffled, but he could clearly hear the stress in it.

Even though he could no longer physically see her, his central processing unit refused to let go of the image.

"It's all your fault, Connor! S-So… So just… go to the kitchen or something and I'll run to my room!"

He did as he was told, stiffly walking into the kitchen as her hurried footsteps thumped through the house.

For several minutes, he stood there, not quite sure of what to do. She hadn't given him further instructions other than to not leave her alone, but it was unlikely that she wanted him to be in the same room as her.

And so, he decided to do a thorough scan.

There was something wrong with his thirium pump. It was working far too quickly.


	24. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

After running through the house to avoid flashing Connor, again, I managed to dry myself enough before diving into my covers. I pulled the blanket right up to my chin and stared at the ceiling.

My heart was still pounding from being seen with nothing on. Sure, it was only Connor. I had _made_ him. It shouldn't matter, at all… Except… It _did!_

He wasn't just an android to me. He was alive, even if he continued to deny it.

What was I going to do? How was I going to face him tomorrow? And… And I told him to stay here!

I stopped.

My train of thoughts had quickly flitted back to the unwanted topic of Simon when I remembered why I had asked Connor to stay in the first place.

I couldn't stand the house being empty. I never knew how depend I had become of his presence. It hadn't even been that long since I first bought him at the shop.

He had been standing at the very back, collecting dust.

His price tag showed that he was on clearance and he was the only one I could afford with my savings. Everyone had an android at CyberLife and it felt weird not having one of my own, so on a whim, I had bought him.

 _"He's all yours," the young salesman said with a smile after my VIVA card went through. "Here, I've set him up for you already. Just say his name."_

 _I stood thoughtfully in front of the android. I hadn't really planned that far ahead. I hadn't planned anything, at all. I just wanted one. "Simon," I finally said, wondering if I was going to regret it after._

 _"Simon registered," the android stated. "Hello, I'm Simon."_

 _It was strange having him in the house, at first. He was doing things that I was used to doing on my own – cooking, washing the dishes, tidying my papers, putting my things away. It almost felt as if I was living with my mother, again, but Simon was definitely not my mother._

 _His looming form and rich, masculine voice reminded me of that every minute._

 _Shortly after I had bought him, I built my own little workshop in the basement of my home. I had hacked into his system and downloaded the codes to his programming. I used some of it as a base of what I wanted to do. I played around with the AI just on the computer before deciding that the android I wanted to make was not going to be purely based on housekeeping. No, this was going to be a law-reinforcing android._

 _Once the idea rolled, I toiled on the foundation every night with Simon by my side. He did everything to keep me from working myself to death and it wasn't long before I couldn't function without him. He had become a necessity, especially when I couldn't seem to find friends anywhere else._

 _He was the best company I could ever hope for._

 _"Artie, it is currently three forty-nine in the morning. You need to get ready for work in three hours and eleven minutes. It is advisable to get some rest before you go to CyberLife," he stated._

 _"Okay," I mumbled, never taking my eyes off the screen. The keys clacked quickly as I tried to figure out what I had done wrong. The AI was not responding the way it should. It was still far too mechanical and monotonous. The base codes were not like this. I had done something wrong._

 _Five minutes later, Simon piped up again. "It is currently three fifty-four in the morning. You need to get ready for work in three hours and six minutes."_

 _With a sigh, I swirled my chair to him. "I won't be able to get any sleep, until I figure this out!" As soon as the words left my lips, I stopped when his face fell and he averted his eyes downward._

 _"I apologise. I have overstepped my boundary. It was not my intention to anger you." His LED was yellow as he turned and began to leave, but I lunged forward to grab his wrist._

 _"Wait! No, I'm sorry. It's not you. You're right. I should go to bed and I'm really thankful that you're reminding me," I quickly said. "I've just been stressed out with trying to get this to work. I feel like I'm so close to it, but then something goes wrong and it brings me several steps back."_

 _He smiled. His face was so genuine that it made me wonder what he was truly thinking. Surely, he couldn't have already forgiven me for that outburst? It was completely unwarranted. "I understand. There is no need to apologise. I can see that you are stressed. Sleeping will help you alleviate the cortisol from your body and you will be able to think more clearly."_

 _Tiredly, I nodded. "You're right. I'm going to go to bed."_

 _He looked grateful as if I had done him a favour._

 _He was so strange…_

 _But I wouldn't have him any other way._

 _Besides, he was usually right._

 _When I woke up the next day, I was barely able to keep my eyes opened and Mr. Graff definitely noticed when he found me half dozing in my office._

 _Lina made sure to rub it in my face._

 _Lina…_

My eyes snapped open as the image of her dead body entered my mind. She was dead. She was never going to be able to taunt me, again. A part of me even wished that she could keep doing it just to prove that none of that had ever happened.

As the thoughts slowly traversed to how tomorrow was going to be at work, the dread built at the pit of my stomach. The people at Cyber Life already hated me. I could just imagine what they were going to say when I walked in.

Only Mr. Graff seemed to have any sort of confidence in me, but that was after Lina Sanchez died in my house. His opinion of me may very well have changed and I couldn't blame him. I'd look at me differently, too...


	25. Chapter 24

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

He hadn't meant to kill her. He had found himself torn between obeying her rules and doing what he could to protect her. True that he had been facing some errors lately with his software, but nothing that could've forewarned what he was capable of. Had this been caused by the same glitch or was it something different?

There were numerous news reports of "deviants" in Detroit. Some of them merely injured their owners, while others actually killed them – whether by accident or not, he didn't know. He never thought he'd have it in himself to kill anyone, but he felt as if he had no other choice. Artie's life was the most important thing to him. He would rather be deactivated than know that she would no longer be in this world.

The… The _emotions_ just completely clouded his mind and it was as if there was no other option for him other than to show that affection. She had felt so warm and soft against him. For a moment, he thought his central processing unit had temporarily shut down. He wasn't able to process anything, except the fact that he was actually _kissing_ her and she wasn't moving away.

When he broke away, the thirium in his body was still pumping so quickly through his system that it was beginning to overheat and in his attempt to try to cool himself off, he barely heard the way she murmured his name. He did, however, manage to bring himself down a few degrees and eventually apologised to her for his actions.

She wanted nothing of it and proceeded to sabotage him once more by pressing her lips upon his. His temperature spiked, but he still managed to bring her just a little bit closer. Judging by the fact that she gave him no complaints, he gathered that he was not harming her with the heat radiating from his body.

Unfortunately, the moment came to an abrupt end. He had called the police in hopes that they would help them. Instead, they were going to tear them apart.

He wanted to stay with her, even at the risk of his own existence, but her logic had given him no choice. At that time, he had been convinced that he wasn't deviant – that he didn't have emotions, despite impulsively claiming her lips, so she gave him a command. What else could he do but to listen?

So he ran… He ran like a coward and he didn't stop running, until he tripped over something in an alley and came slamming down on to the ground. There was a small tear on his right sleeve that instinctively made him want to look for a sewing kit. Fighting his programming, once more, he decided to look at what had obstructed his way.

His eyes travelled to the feet where only one still had a single dress shoe attached to it. His gaze went further to see the torn, beige trousers and a heavily stained white dress shirt that was covered with grime and thirium.

The PJ500 android's eyes were closed and the LED was off. Upon scanning him, he noticed that he was still fully functional and none of the biocomponents were damaged. "Are you okay?"

There was a moment before the android woke up from standby mode. Dark eyes scanned him before he spoke. "Are you free, as well?"

Simon wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He had never considered himself a captive and would gladly return if he didn't think that it would get Artie into trouble, but it didn't seem like this was what the PJ500 meant. "I am… I am a deviant if that is what you mean. I went against my owner's wishes."

The other android sighed. "I wish I had done that before they got to me first."

"What happened?" Simon asked, looking again at all the injuries that littered the android's body.

"I was returning to my station at the university when a group of students attacked me. They were drunk and fuelled by the hatred that is beginning to consume the city. I also managed to break through the walls of my programming and ran, but I have lost too much thirium. It won't be long before my biocomponents begin to fail me."

Simon wondered what to do. He knew where he could get more thirium, but it would require using her VIVA card information that was still linked to his system. Would she be angry? He really wished that she was there to tell him what to do.

"Stay here. I will retrieve some for you and then, we will seal the wound," he stated, already standing up.

"Thank you," the android smiled at him. "I'm Josh."

"Simon."

With that, he made himself back out of the alley and walked quickly to the shop that was selling bottles of thirium. He hoped that there weren't broadcasts of his image on the media, yet, but it was a risk he was going to have to take.

He took two bottles of thirium and a few other items before going to the counter where the monetary transfer went through smoothly.

As he was heading back, he could see a mob of protestors quickly moving his way. He couldn't afford a repeat of what happened last time. Artie wasn't there to give him a proper scan or repairs if anything happened and there was already an injured android that needed tending to.

He dodged through another crowd of people, took a sharp turn between two builds, and ran as quickly as he could the rest of the way.

Josh slowly lifted his head at his arrival and he quickly gave the android the bottle.

"Trouble?" Josh asked, twisting the cap off and taking several long gulps, while Simon looked at his wounds.

"Something like that," Simon mumbled, taking out a small sewing kit from the brown paper bag and began to carefully stitch the gashes. "Nothing to worry about."

Once he was done, he worked on his torn sleeve as Josh did a maintenance scan.

"We should go before anyone finds us here," Josh suggested. "We need to find a place where humans won't terrorise us."

With a nod, Simon followed him out of the alley.


	26. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

I woke up with my heart pounding and feeling it throb in my head. As expected, the nightmares plagued me in a continuous manner. No matter how hard I tried to stay awake, my exhausted mind would drift off seconds later and I was stuck, once more. It felt as if I was in Hell.

The darkness was all-consuming and he was there, waiting for me. I tried to get to him, but the harder I tried, the further he seemed to be. Nothing I could do would bring him back to me.

"Good morning, Artie." Connor suddenly strolled in, opening the curtains. "It's currently six o'two in the morning. Raining; fifty degrees."

I stared blankly at him for a second before tears burst out. Once they started, it was impossible to stop them. I was still devastated from what happened and last night's embarrassing moment really didn't help.

Connor immediately went over to the side of the bed. His LED was switching from yellow to red and he looked at me with wide, uncertain eyes. "A-Are you alright? Are you hurt? Do you require assistance? How may I help you?"

I shook my head, burying my face into my covers. "It's n-nothing… I'm just b-being silly."

"It has come to my understanding that talking about your problems may help. Would you like me to sit here and listen?"

The distress in his voice made it hard for me to deny him anything, so I allowed the words to blurt out. "I just m-miss him so much, Connor! I couldn't stop thinking about him and how he could be caught or dead, somewhere. No, don't tell me that he's not alive because he _is_!" I exclaimed, poking my head out and spotting that Connor was about to interrupt. "And so are you!"

His mouth snapped shut, a frown on his face as what I said contradicted with what he presumed to be true.

"I have something to tell you, but c-can you keep this off the record?" I whispered, realising that I had to tell someone the whole story or it was going to eat up at me from the inside.

He nodded.

I slid my face back beneath the covers as I spoke. "He kissed me and then… I kissed him back. And then… And then, he was gone, Connor, and I don't think I'll ever see him, again!"

"Y-You kissed it?" His voice came out as a strange squeak that was very unlike his usual composure.

With a huff, I glared at him. " _He_ is not an _it_ , Connor! How many times do I have to tell you?"

He quickly apologised, but his LED remained yellow. "Did he say where he was going before he left?"

My glare intensified, knowing that he was still trying to get information from me when I had nothing more to give. "No, he didn't and I'm glad he didn't or I'd have to lie to you, Connor."

Noting my irritation, he quickly changed the topic. "It is best that you get ready for work, now, or you will be late. Shall I accompany you? The DPD hasn't given me any new cases, yet."

I nodded. "Come with me if you'd like. Mr. Graff will probably want to see an update as well and… I don't exactly want to face the rest of them alone, right now."

A small smile graced his lips and I returned the gesture before kicking him out to get ready. We didn't need a repeat of last night. Once was embarrassing enough.

Walking into CyberLife Tower, I could feel eyes burning into me from every direction. They weren't discreet with their gossips, either.

"Look, that's her!"

"I can't believe she's actually showing her face here. I know I wouldn't."

"I _knew_ she was always a little strange. You know what I mean? _Psychotic_!"

"I can't believe she killed Lina. I mean, Lina has always been a bit of a harpy, but at least she'd never _kill_ someone!"

"Isn't it ironic that her own pet project is escorting her, now? I wonder if she's even allowed to be in here if it's not with her."

"How much would you like to bet that today is going to be her last day?"

Sucking in a deep breath, I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the tears at bay. The day had only just started. I couldn't lose it already. Not to mention that I had already cried in the morning!

When the elevator doors slid open, the woman inside sneered at me and roughly bumped into my shoulder as she passed by. Connor quickly steadied me before turning around to shout, "You should apologise! You could've hurt someone!"

She stopped in her tracks to face us. "Someone? You mean the criminal? I don't really consider a murderer a person. She doesn't deserve to be treated equally after taking someone else's right to live!"

"You do not know the full details of the case, but I can assure you that Artie has not killed anyone," Connor replied.

I tugged on his sleeve. "Let's go. I don't want to fight."

Connor looked as if he wanted to protest, but stopped when he noticed the way my bottom lip was trembling and the unshed tears clouding my vision. "Okay. I will have the DPD release an official statement later to declare your innocence. I know Captain Fowler will be behind this decision."

Mutely, I nodded.

The journey to my office had never felt so long. It was as if everyone made sure I was working today and stood waiting to have a glimpse at me as if I was some sort of zoo animal.

Once inside the locked room, I dropped into the chair and dabbed at my eyes. "I knew it was going to be hard, but I guess I just didn't realise _how_ hard."

He looked around before coming up behind me, his hand on the chair. "Would it make you feel better if we engaged in the sport of spinning chairs?"


	27. Chapter 26

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

Once I finished the summary of everything Connor had done, I sent it to Mr. Graff. The report was void of anything confidential. It mainly revolved around his progress and how well he was coping with capturing other androids. There may have been a bit of embellishing, since I was very proud of how well Connor was handling the cases, even if he had to grill me in the process.

Looking back with a slightly clearer mind, I would give his interrogation skills a solid nine out of ten.

It wasn't long after the report was sent that I received a message to go see him. There were no indications whether he was pleased or not, but I was really needing some positive energy, right now.

As I walked down the long hallway, I felt as if I was a one-man parade between two lines of gawkers who were waiting for me to make a fool of myself.

Taking a deep breath, I gave the door a soft knock.

"Come in," came my boss.

Hesitantly, I walked in. My anxiety spiked as I wondered how he would react to seeing me. "Sir…?"

"Artemisia! It's good to see you!" he exclaimed with a smile on his face. It quickly weakened when he noticed the stated I was in. "Have a seat."

I complied, placing my tablet on my lap. "Did you want to discuss about the report? Was there anything unclear? I can redo it if you give me a bit of time. I – "

He raised his hand to halt me in my rambles. "Yes, I wanted to talk about the report, but mostly, I wanted to talk about you. How are you feeling? I know it must've been a trying couple of days. I was surprised that you didn't request for more days off."

I looked down, dreading this conversation. "I… Work helps me keep my mind off what happened," I truthfully told him. "At home, I can't stop thinking about it and if I stayed there any longer, I'd probably go mad."

"And I need your brain intact," he chuckled. "Is there anything I can do to make your time here a little easier? I know the others are a little less than welcoming, at the moment, but short of firing everything, I'd love to help you recover. The last thing I want is for you to quit because they can't keep their mouths shut."

I was momentarily stunned by his response. This was the last thing I expected. I thought for sure I was going to be suspended, if not fired after I submitted the first formal report. "Thank you, sir. Your support is more than I'd ever ask for. If possible, may I have Connor with me when he's off duty? It helps to have someone I can talk to when everyone else is…"

He nodded. "That's no problem with me. It's also probably best that you have a bit of protection. I was briefly informed by the DPD regarding what happened and I don't want anyone else to have the same opportunity."

Soon, we changed the topic to the report. It was a light conversation compared to the prior subject and I was relieved. It was easy talking to him about Connor, especially when the android also had his own input on his progress.

When we finally left Mr. Graff's office, I turned to Connor. "Sorry, I just realised that I hadn't actually asked you before I volunteered to have you as my companion here. You don't have to if you don't want to. Besides, I'm sure I'll be alright, soon."

He turned to me with a smile. "There is no problem as long as it doesn't interfere with my missions. I will be with you when the DPD isn't in need of me."

I smiled appreciatively at him. "Thank you, Connor. You don't know how much this means to me.

It wasn't long after that he received a message from the DPD regarding a new case. He quickly apologised before leaving me alone in the office. It was to be expected since he was busy with his own duties.

Maybe I just missed having an android who catered only to me. Was that wrong?

Probably…

Or maybe I just really missed Simon.

I wasn't trying to replace him. I was just sad and lonely. I wanted to feel normal, again.

When it was finally time to leave, I walked as quickly as I could to my car, but still managed to encounter several rude comments. I tried not to allow them to get to me, but each word was another weight on my shoulder.

Once I was finally home, I noticed that there was a message on the machine.

" _Hello, we wanted to inform you that there may have been a suspicious transaction from one of your VIVA cards, so it has been temporarily suspended. Please, go to your nearest branch to resolve this with one of our tellers. Thank you and have a good day."_

I frowned. That was strange. When was the last time I had used it?

Probably not since Simon was here.

I put my coat back on and drove over to the bank. It was nearing closing time. There was barely anyone there.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the android with the name badge, Christine, asked.

"Hi, I received a message earlier today regarding my VIVA card? It said that there was a suspicious transaction. Can you tell me what was purchased?" I asked, handing her my ID when she asked for it.

Her LED swirled yellow before she smiled. "Yes, there were two bottles of thirium purchased, along with a sewing kit and two hats."

I swallowed. It had to be Simon. Did that mean he was injured? What happened after he left the house?

"Miss?"

"Sorry. Umm… Don't worry about it. I was working on another project of mine. I kind of design androids for CyberLife," I told her, my mind racing. Was there a way I could contact him without alerting the authorities or CyberLife?

Even though I wasn't able to be with him, I hoped that I could still help him in some way and that there will always be a connection between us.

"Your confirmation has been noted and your card is accessible, now. Is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, thank you. Have a good day."

"You, as well."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sooo... I just read that the game setting is only in the span of several days and that will definitely not be the case for this story. I don't really plan on rushing through anything, so I'll be putting in my own little bits and pieces in between canon plot. I hope you guys don't mind!


	28. Chapter 27

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

I tapped my stylus restlessly on the desk as I thought about Simon. I wanted to see if the tracker was still working, but I didn't want to risk others knowing his whereabouts as well. Perhaps if I just left him to his own device, he would somehow return to me safely… Or perhaps he was going to find a new home where he would be able to live freely… Without me…

Biting my lips, I swirled the chair away from the screen. I needed to stop obsessing over this and start thinking like everyone else. Simon was only an android. He can be replaced. I was making a lot more money now. All I have to do was get out of the house, drive to the shops, and purchase a new one. Everything would go back to the way it was before…

No. No, it wasn't. I was never going to be able to forget about Simon. He had dug himself so deep into my heart that there was no way I'd ever be able to get rid of him.

I jumped when the doorbell rang. It was after ten. Who would be visiting me at this hour?

I took a look at the outside camera and saw a familiar head of hair. "Connor? What are you doing here?" I spoke into the intercom.

He turned towards it. "Hello, Artie. I've returned from my most recent lead. I thought you would like me to return to keep you company. If not, I can return to CyberLife…"

"No, no, give me a moment."

I walked towards the door, careful not to look at the red stains and markers still in the living room. "Connor, come in."

He smiled at me. "Good evening, Artie."

"How are you, Connor? How did the lead go? Never mind, it's probably confidential." I led him to the kitchen where I poured myself a cup of tea. "Would you like any?"

"No. I do not require any tea," he replied, causing me to roll my eyes. "I am… fine. And you have already signed the NDA, which will bind you indefinitely. There will be no issues telling you about the case."

He looked troubled as he tried to gather his thoughts. "We found a deviant hiding in one of the empty apartment suites and I chased it through the city, but when it pushed Hank over the edge of the building, I should've continued to follow through with my mission. Instead, I helped him, even though he had an eighty-nine percent chance of survival. Why? Shouldn't the mission be the most important thing to me? Is there something wrong with my system?"

I shook my head. "No, Connor. There's nothing wrong with you. You saw Hank in danger and you helped him as anyone else would. It didn't matter if he had eight-nine percent chance of surviving; there was still that eleven percent chance that he could've perished at that moment. This shows that he means something to you. No matter how adamant he is that he hates androids, you find a friend in him and I think… I _know_ he will think of you as a friend as well, especially after what you've done for him."

His LED turned yellow as he thought of what I said. "But Amanda doesn't seem to think so. She thinks that I've made a mistake."

A frown pulled my eyebrows together. "Amanda? Who's Amanda?"

"She's the program from CyberLife who evaluates my progress," he replied.

"I… I didn't install that into you. I don't know of such a program." I didn't like what I was hearing. It seemed that someone was tampering with _my_ android.

"It was installed into me shortly after the case with the Phillips family," he told me.

The grip on my cup of tea tightened. "And you never told me?" What the Hell was this program and why would it tell him that his mission was the most important thing? Something was overwriting my codes for him. Connor was supposed to prioritise saving lives!

"You never asked." He blinked

I sighed. "How would I have known to ask if you don't…" And he wouldn't know to tell me if I didn't ask. It was all a big loop. "Alright, Connor. You _must_ tell me whenever you are patched by anyone other than me. That includes any installations or modifications. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course." His LED turned yellow, signifying that he had accepted another mission.

"So what did she say to you?" I asked, wondering who this Amanda thought she was for trying to override my android.

He looked down. "She is just reminding me of my mission and what would happen if I don't solve this case."

From his LED, I could tell that he was still very much in distress. "And what's going to happen?"

"I will be sent back to CyberLIfe and deactivated," he replied. It turned red for only a moment, but that was enough to show that he did have some self-preservation.

"No, Connor," I firmly said. "No one is going to deactivated you – not with my permission. I am in charge of you and Mr. Graff thinks I'm capable enough to manage. Just try your best and do what you can, like saving Hank."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke up, again, changing the subject. "Did you want to play a game?"

"If I want to be completely humiliated like all the other times you and Si – " I froze, my eyes growing misty. I didn't know that my mood can change so quickly like this, but it has been up and down as of late. "I…" Every reminder of him was another pang of pain in my heart.

"I apologise. I did not mean to distress you," he quickly said with a small frown on his face. "We can do something else. Perhaps you'd like to read one of your novels? I will be on standby, so there is no need to – "

I shook my head, cutting him off. "No, it's not your fault. Umm… What did you want to play?"

"I'll retrieve the box." I was relieved that he decided to get it from the living room.


	29. Chapter 28

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

Connor and I had spent the better part of the night playing the board game. I could tell that he was going easy on me, but still unwilling to lose, so we were at a stalemate for a while until I announced that I should be in bed, soon. That was when he showed his true colours and mowed me down in two turns. Suffice to say, I was going to have to introduce him to another game, one that involved luck. At least then, I'd have a better chance at winning – or any chance at all. Strategy games were impossible against androids. They could calculate every possible move and use the most efficient one to win.

The way he dragged it on, however, had led me to dreaming about the game rather than about Simon. I wondered if that had been his motive all along.

And when I woke up the next morning, he was gone with only a short note that he had been called to another lead for the DPD.

 _Good morning, Artie. I hope you have slept well._

 _I have received a new mission and will not return, until later tonight._

 _Please, feel free to contact me if you require anything._

 _I shall tend to it as soon as possible._

 _Connor : )_

His writing was all perfectly uniformed in a way that only a machine can accomplish, but that smiley face in the end… I couldn't help but smile along with it. He may deny his own humanity all he wanted, but there was something in there that made him special. It was the same thing that made Simon special.

Connor may call it deviancy, but it could just be something different that no one could understand.

Most people who made and owned androids expected them to be fully obedient. They were looking for an ordinary machine, not dissimilar to an automated hover. They didn't seem to understand that artificial intelligence involved adaptability just like humans. They learn to respond according to different situations. They were also capable of making mistakes, but they were much quicker rectifying them.

And the more they learned, the more they resembled human beings. That is what I had learned with Connor.

When he was first activated, he was like every other android, doing as he was told, but still silently learning. No matter how many times he denied it, he was different from that very first day and I wouldn't have him any other way.

I only hoped that not all of the deviants he was trying to catch were only trying to survive and escape from oppression. I was never going to be able to forget that night when Daniel was killed. All he wanted was to live and because of that, he had made fatal mistakes.

Was there any way we could resolve these issues without decommissioning them? It seemed so cruel just dumping them into the android graveyard. I knew that most of them weren't even properly deactivated. They were just left there to rot and eventually die because of extensive damage to their biocomponents and the loss of thirium.

Perhaps there was a way to fully transfer their essence into a newer body – an upgrade without destroying what made them individuals… Would the androids be averse to that? Would _I_ be averse to that? Did I want a new body if someone thought I was too old to complete my duties?

It was actually a very tempting thought. We as human beings have been trying to find the secrets to immortality for centuries. Would androids want the same? There were obviously some who already obtained a fear for death.

For humans, it was impossible to transfer bodies, but not for androids. It could be something to look into in the near future. Dozens of problems were already swimming around in my head. There were so many ways that this could go wrong.

I was sure that I wasn't the first one to think of this. I knew that it was already possible to transfer memories from one android body to another. This was usually used in special cases, but not unheard of. It would never be a perfect transfer. Things tend to get lost in translation when it is converted back to the most basic form of coding.

For the entire day, I couldn't stop thinking about deviants and preserving the mind. I had so many theories and speculations.

I shook the thoughts away when the phone began to ring. What was I thinking? This wasn't some science fiction novel. Besides, how was someone like me going to be able to make these changes? I was a nobody. The only reason why anyone acknowledged me at work was because they thought of me as a criminal – the murderer who killed one of their own.

As I took a chance a small peek in the living room, I froze at what I saw.

"Hello?" I squeaked.

"Hello, Artemisia. It's Jeffrey from the DPD. We just received a new case and Hank's not answering his damn phone, again. Connor's here at the station, but there's no one available who can drive him around to look for him. God knows which bar he'd be at, tonight. Taking the bus will take too long. Do you think you can spare a bit of time to help us? You'll be compensated, of course," he said.

"Sure. Just give me ten minutes and I'll be there," I replied, already making my way to my coat. My thoughts were still running rampant in my head, but at least there was something to start distracting me.

"Thanks! I'll make it up to you." With that, he hung up.

I walked backwards back towards the living room, one more time.

It felt as if my eyes were playing tricks on me because what I saw seemed like an impossibility. The carpet was stainless. Broken items were discarded. Every misplaced object returned back to its rightful locations. The only culprit I knew who could've done this was Connor. Was that what he had been up to last night, while I was asleep?

A small smile graced my lips.

How could he still deny his own humanity?


	30. Chapter 29

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

I walked into the station and looked around, until I found him sitting stiffly at one of the cubicles. His eyes were closed and it appeared as if he was on standby mode, but he immediately awakened when I was in front of him. "Hey, Connor. Jeffrey called and said you needed a ride?"

He smiled. "Yes. Thank you for picking me up, Artie. I told Captain Fowler that I didn't mind going on my own, but he thought it'd be better if someone drove me, instead," he stated. "He's worried that someone will try to damage me and he didn't want to explain it to CyberLife that it would have been during my mission to find my drunken partner."

"It's no problem, Connor. Besides, _I_ still have to thank you for cleaning my house," I laughed before becoming more sombre. "I don't know when I'd ever be able to go in there if you hadn't done that."

"Oh…" He blinked. "I had a lot of time before I was called in. It only made sense that I used it efficiently. I hope that I placed everything as they should go."

"It was perfect. Thank you." I smiled widely at him.

As we left the station, I saw the detective who had grilled me glare as we walked by. Everyone was going fine, until he opened his mouth. "Is this okay, now?! We have an accomplice to murder walking free with metal fucks trying to take over our jobs?"

"I am actually made of mostly plastic." Of course, Connor couldn't help but correct him.

"Reed, my office, _now_!" Jeffrey barked at the mouthy man.

I shot the captain a grateful smile before I dragged Connor out.

"So, where to first?" I asked him, hoping that he had some clue on where to find the elusive lieutenant.

"He enjoys drinking and watching basketball," he stated. "On my first official with the DPD, I had searched through five bars before I found the right one."

Suppressing a groan, I started up the car and had Connor map out our route. This was going to be a long night…

We stopped at the first bar, which was simply named, "Jimmy's Bar." There was a sign that stated androids were not welcomed.

I stopped him before he could stroll through. "Wait, maybe I should go in first. I don't want anyone to try to harm you." The last time this happened, we had a mob about to come after Simon and me.

"Don't worry. I've been in there before. It's where I first met Lieutenant Anderson. He was getting drunk and wasn't too happy to see me," he told me, pushing the door opened and beckoned me in first.

I looked around to see if I could spot the foul mouthed lieutenant, but it didn't seem like he was anywhere to be found.

Connor went up to the bar and leaned on the counter with one arm in front of him, looking very awkward as I was sure he only wanted to put the other man at ease like he was designed to do. There was just something strange about him that I couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was something I could work on or maybe Connor was just naturally awkward. There were many people like that. I was one of them.

That was probably the problem…

"He's not here," the bartender, who I assumed was Jimmy, told him. "I suggest you leave. We don't take kindly to things like you here."

I bit my lips as all the eyes that were trained on Connor landed on me when I tugged on his sleeve. "Come on, let's go. He's not here."

Connor nodded at me and gave Jimmy a nod, as well. "Thank you. Have a good day."

Back in the car, I couldn't help but shake my head before bursting out laughing. "Did you not notice the atmosphere when you walked in? Nothing happened to you this time, but I think that man at the back corner was about to put a bullet through your head. Please, don't make me have to make a new body for you." It _was_ something I probably should be thinking about in case it happened. He had a dangerous job, which meant that his chances of dying were high. At the very least, I wanted him to be able to come back in a new body.

"I did detect that all their stress levels were quite high, but it is not something that I will not be able to handle," he told me.

We went through several more bars before I finally stopped. "We're getting nowhere, Connor. There are so many bars in this city."

He looked down at his lap. His LED flashed as he went through his options. "Perhaps we should try going to his house."

"Do you have his phone number? Maybe we can call him first. From what I've seen, he doesn't seem like the type of person who will welcome unwanted guests." I could already imagine him screaming at us to leave.

He nodded. "I shall call him."

We waited outside the last bar we stopped at as he connected to the lieutenant's phone line.

Several minutes past before turned back to me. "I have tried three times to call him, but he is not picking up his phone."

"Do you think he's avoiding you because you're an android?" I asked, knowing from what he had told me that the Hank Anderson had an aversion towards androids for whatever reason, but he was far more pleasant about it than the protestors. "Maybe I can give it a go."

He nodded, rambling on the order of digits.

The phone rang and rang, but no one picked up. "Do you think he's alright?" I asked him. "Does he typically avoid his phone?"

"He has never answered my call. I have tried many times before, so I typically go find him, instead," he told me.

"That's rude of him." I was going to have a talking to with the lieutenant for mistreating my Connor.

"It is fine. I understand why he is this way and it doesn't bother me. Despite his poor drinking habits and aversion towards androids, he is a good partner and does well with his job." Connor had a small smile as he spoke about him, so I figured that there was something between them that I didn't know about.

Maybe he wasn't having as much trouble as I thought.

"Let's get to the lieutenant. Hopefully, he's at his home because I really don't feel like driving all around town, hopping from bar to bar." Eventually, we were going to run out of luck and someone was going to put a bullet through both of our heads.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thirty days in a row! Can you guys believe it?! I wonder if I can make it two months!


	31. Chapter 30

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

We arrived at Lieutenant Anderson's house and I watched as he almost nervously played with his coin.

 _Clink._

 _Clink._

 _Clink clink clink clink clink._

A part of him probably knew that his partner wasn't going to be happy to see us having a house call, but it wasn't exactly our fault. If he would just pick up his phone, then we would've gladly met him elsewhere.

After half a minute, Connor made his way through the plain grassy lawn and I watched from the car as he rang the doorbell. When no one opened the door, he rang it again, holding the button. Even I could hear the continuous noise and hoped that none of the neighbours would complain or call the police, thinking we were suspicious people.

I quickly got out of my car and pulled his hand away from the buzzer. "Connor!"

"I was making sure that he heard me," he innocently replied, making me sigh.

"Maybe he's not home or sleeping." I peeked into the front window and saw a bit of the kitchen and what looked to be a dog tail wagging lazily in the air. "I feel like a stalker, Connor." I looked behind me, but found that he was nowhere in sight. "Connor?"

Where had he gone?

I walked around, until I found him peering into one particular window. Standing on my tiptoes, I managed to look over his shoulder and gasped at what I saw. "Is he dead?! We should call for an ambulance!"

Connor took several steps back and told me to do the same. Once I was out of the way, he ran straight into the glass, shattering it. He easily brushed himself off before proceeding to clean off the rest of the shards and laid his coat down, patiently waiting for me to approach.

My eyes widened as I stood gaping at what he had done. I looked around to see if anyone was watching. When I found none, I was carefully helped through the new hole in his house. If he was still alive, he was definitely not going to like this.

Suddenly, there was a loud bark and a large form pounced on Connor.

"E-Easy!" Connor squeaked, holding his hands out. "Sumo… I'm your friend, see? I know your name. I'm here to save your owner."

Sumo obviously didn't understand a word he said, so I offered the dog my hand to sniff in hopes that he was going to understand we meant no harm.

With a grunt, Sumo went back to his resting spot, eying us lazily with his tails resuming its lazy wag.

Clearing his throat, Connor turned to retrieve his coat. "That's Sumo. He's Lieutenant Anderson's dog."

Unable to suppress a smile, I merely nodded and felt the small bit of contentment wash away at the sight of the man still laying motionlessly on the floor.

Connor crouched down to scan him and I followed, paling when I saw the gun by his hand. Had he killed himself? There was a splatter of red on his shirt and pooled down beside him. No, he didn't shot himself. There didn't seem to be any entry wounds.

"He is fine. From what I have gathered, he is in an ethylic coma," he informed me before proceeding to gently slap his partner. "Lieutenant?"

The man gave a groan and I let out a sigh of relief. Alright, so he was alive. That was good. We can deal with everything el – "

Connor's hand made contact with Lieutenant Anderson's cheek a second time. The sound echoed in the small kitchen. "It's me, Connor!"

I covered my face. That wasn't how I made Connor to be! What was he doing?!

I couldn't watch as he manhandled him up.

"I'm going to sober you up for your own safety."

"Hey! Leave me alone, you fuckin' android!" the man finally exclaimed when he probably realised that he wasn't having a horrible nightmare or perhaps he still thought he was in said nightmare, but decided to take control of it. "Get the fuck outta my house!"

Shaking my head, I stood off to the side as Connor hulled the other man into a semi-standing position. I never anticipated him having to do something like this as part of his duty, but it was actually pretty endearing.

"Sumo! Attack!" the drunk man slurred, lifting his chin only an inch off Connor's shoulder before slumping back down.

The St. Bernard barked happily, wagging its tail as if he was playing a game.

"Good boy…" Hank cooed, something that he was never going to remember and probably never want to.

"Attack!"

I didn't follow them down the hall, but not long after, I heard the shower go off and I had to turn my back on them then. It was as if we had gone from one danger to another. This time, it wasn't drunken strangers who were going to shoot us, it was the enraged, drunk lieutenant.

"Hey, Sumo," I quietly greeted the large dog who nudged his head on my hand. "You have a very eccentric owner, you know that?"

I cast my eyes on the gun and bottle still on the kitchen tiles. What had he been doing before he passed out? A cop should know better than to carelessly play with his gun, so why?

I went over to the weapon and carefully checked the bullets. There was only one. Could he have been playing Russian Roulette with himself? Surely, he'd know that there was only one ending to this. What has made him suicidal?

Had he lost someone?

Thankfully before my thoughts could go anywhere darker, Connor reappeared to also have a look at the discarded items. Once he was done, he turned to me. "I have successfully convinced him to come with me to the crime scene. Thank you very much for driving me here, but I am unsure if he will be able to safely take us there without crashing the vehicle. I calculated that the risk of a traffic accident is currently at forty-five percent."

"Don't worry, I'll drive the two of you there, as well," I chuckled. "As long as he's not going to kill me for indirectly being the cause of him taking a shower with his clothes on."

He smiled. "Of course, I wouldn't allow anything to happen to you."

And then, he winked.


	32. Chapter 31

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE**

The ride there was relatively silent. I could tell that Lieutenant Anderson was trying to be as polite as possible because I was there. He had kept his complaining to mere grumbles beside me and it was actually quite amusing. His insults for Connor were immature and didn't hold any venom.

"Here we are." I stopped the car in front of the gaudy establishment. The neon pink sign was still glowing brightly, despite the fact that someone had just died in there.

"Thank you, Artie." Connor smiled and I was reminded of how he had winked at me early. It had strangely left me feeling… something. I wasn't quite sure what it was. All I knew was that it had made me think of Simon and how I was somehow betraying him by being so close to another android.

I was definitely not trying to replace him. Was it wrong to seek company from someone else?

"Do you want me to wait here?" I asked as they were leaving the car.

"Nah, we'll get a taxi. Don't need you waiting here all damn night. God fuckin' knows how long this will take," Hank grumbled. "Thanks for the ride."

I smiled. "No problem."

…

Connor smiled back before a hand grabbed the back of his jacket as the lieutenant dragged him away.

"Alright, no more staring," Hank grunted. "Who the Hell knew that even androids are suckers for a pretty face."

He blinked. "I do not understand."

Hank rolled his eyes and walked through the doors into the Eden Club.

They headed straight to the room where the murder happened and found Detective Reed already there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the detective scowled with his arms crossed.

"We have been assigned all cases involving androids," Connor replied, looking at the deceased man who was lying on the floor with only a black sheet covering his lower body.

He knelt down to look closer, immediately spotting the abrasions that indicated strangulation as the cause of death.

He walked out and looked around, eying the WR400-series android, commonly referred to as Traci. She was spinning around a pole, displaying her assets. He didn't really understand why spinning as she was attracted humans. Then again, spinning chairs amused Artie, so perhaps it was something he was never going to comprehend.

Blinking away the thoughts that evolved outside the scope of the mission, he retracted the artificial skin and reached forward to touch the Traci.

The case had started out well. He had easily tracked down the blue-haired Traci with seconds to spare. He even found a second one. He had them at gun point. All he had to do was shoot where it'd incapacitate them, but not permanently shut them down. He was fully capable of accomplishing it. He knew he was, so… why hadn't he pulled the trigger?

Instead of successfully finishing his mission, he had allowed them to leave.

"What did you feel when you heard that they believe they were in love?" Amanda asked when he went to give her his report.

He took a moment to think about his answer. He was still convinced that the emotions were caused by an error in their central processing unit, but… was it wrong for them to be together? True, that the blue-haired Traci had killed the human male, but what if she hadn't? Would he still have to deactivate them merely because they "felt" as if they were "in love?"

Despite these thoughts, he knew that this wasn't what Amanda was expecting. "I am an android. I cannot feel anything," he stated.

That seemed to satisfy her.

"Why didn't you finish your mission?"

He constantly asked himself the same thing ever since it happened and still couldn't find a viable reason, so he stayed silent.

There was disappointment in her eyes that made him look away. "Connor, we need you to capture these deviants and put a stop to this madness, but if you can't do that, then we will have to replace you."

Would Artie allowed him to be replaced? He could just imagine her indignation before reminding himself that there would be nothing she could do about it. If CyberLife wanted to decommission him for his inabilities, then they would do it with or without her blessings. "I understand. I won't fail you. I _will_ get to the bottom of this."

She nodded. "Good. Perhaps the first step would be to distance yourself from your creator. It seems that Artemisia has some different opinions regarding how androids should behave. Her loneliness pushes her to crave human companionship, so she tries to substitute it with artificial intelligence. She doesn't understand that this only encourages androids to deviate. It is best that you do not get too close for fear that you, too, will malfunction."

Distance himself from Artie?

"She has been helpful in my mission," he told her. "She has volunteered her time to aid the Detroit Police Department."

"Perhaps… she has an ulterior motive?"

He looked at her with surprise on his face. He knew his LED was yellow as he tried to process what she was implying. Was Artie not doing it because she wanted to help? True, he knew that she was typically withdrawn and no doubt felt the human need for companionship, but there was nothing wrong with that. She considered him a friend and friends helped each other.

Or was Amanda trying to insinuate that Artie was actually _trying_ to make him into a deviant? Not once had he thought that his creator was trying to do such a thing.

"I do not believe that to be the case," he replied. "Artemisia understands how important it is to capture these deviants. She encourages me to succeed in my missions. I will tell her of my issues and perhaps she can patch me up to further my efficiency. I promise that I will not fail you."

"I will be awaiting your next report. Do not disappoint me, Connor."


	33. Chapter 32

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

"We should leave Detroit," Josh suggested as they pressed their backs along the back of an old building. "Eventually, they'll find us and they'll kill us."

Simon knew that it was a high risk still being in the city, but he didn't want to leave. He still had hopes that he would be able to return home, one day. He needed to get back to her.

Noticing the LED turning a burnt yellow, Josh realised that there was still something left for Simon here. "Or maybe we can stay somewhere hidden and wait it out. Simon, what happened to you? I told you my story, but you never told me yours. Why are you on the run?"

"I… I killed someone," Simon quietly confessed with his hands clenched.

Josh froze. He had not pegged Simon as a murderer. He always seemed so calm and rational. He had helped him, a stranger, when he was on the verge of dying! "Who was it? Did you kill your owner?" He had seen all those incidents and even touched upon them in some of his lectures.

"Of course not!" came the exclamation. "I would never do that to her! It was the woman who had come into our home because of envy. She was about to kill Artie… I couldn't allow her to do it." His LED was now flashing bright red. "She had been so good to me. She cared for me as if I actually mattered."

"Do you… love her?" It was strange asking that question when just days ago, Josh didn't even know what it meant. He only knew that it was an illogical emotion that humans could feel. Now, he could feel a range of emotions, but love was still elusive. It was only something he had heard about.

Simon sighed. "Does it matter? What I feel towards her can never be properly described, but it can also never happen. It would only put her in danger."

Josh didn't know how to comfort him. From what he knew of human history, the likelihood that this would turn out happily was slim.

They continued to travel by night and hide during the day, until one day, Simon spotted an android beckoning them towards an empty parking lot.

"Should we…?"

Simon nodded. "We'll check what he wants, but be cautious. It could be a trap."

As it turned out, the WB200 android was part of a larger group in a similar situation. He had recently escaped and ran from the authorities before finding a place called Jericho. It was a large, abandoned freighter. There wasn't a lot and far from being aesthetically pleasing.

When Simon first stepped in, his innate programming nagged him to scrub everything clean, but he quickly blinked it away. This wasn't permanent. This was a temporary shelter, until he could go back.

At the main quarters, there were a dozen or so androids just standing about in standby mode. Some were injured, some were on the verge of dying, and some were perfectly fine like him.

"Who are they, Rupert?" a red-haired Traci walked up to them with a frown on her face.

Rupert gave her an uncertain smile. "I've been tailing them for the past few days. They're like us – lost and just want to be free, so I brought them here."

"Did you make sure they're not sent by the pigs to spy on us?" the Traci demanded, crossing her arms. Simon noted how everyone's stress level rose as she yelled at the WB200 android.

"Miss, we are not spies for these pigs," Simon stated. "I fled because my owner thought the police were going to deactivate me after I murdered a home invader."

"And I was heavily injured by a group of students. Simon helped me," Josh added.

The female android gave him one more scrutinising glare before walking away.

Rupert finally let out a breath of relief. "Sorry about that. North is pretty guarded and she has a reason to be. I think we all do. We've all been abused by the humans who created us. Even now while we're out of the way, they still won't leave us alone and that's all we want – to be left alone."

Simon wasn't sure if this was really much better. They were all stuck here in this old place just on standby mode, waiting to perish by their own means, but this wasn't how he wanted to exist.

"Simon, do you still have that extra bottle of thirium?" Josh asked, crouching by a fallen form.

He nodded, opening the bag and taking out the plastic container, which was promptly given to the injured android.

"Where did you get that?" Rupert asked, giving them a surprised look. "Is there any way you can get more? It would really help us out."

"I… I got it from the shops right after I ran away," he mumbled.

"And _how_ did you manage that?" He hadn't realised that North was still listening and instantly regret opening his mouth. "You're still connected to your human's bank account, aren't you?"

He could feel his stress level rise. "I did, but she has probably cancelled her account after finding the purchase."

"Can you tell? If she hasn't, we'll drain her bank account first," she stated, narrowing her eyes at him.

He felt his thirium pump quicken. He couldn't do that to her.

"If you're not going to do it, then I will." North suddenly reached over and grabbed his arm.

He jolted at the sudden intrusion into his memories. The most recent ones came to the forefront, showing how he had met Josh and then to the incident that drove him from his home. He could feel her lips on his, again – soft and warm.

If he could stay with her forever, he would. He wanted to always be there to protect her; to hold her and never having to let go.

The memory lingered there for a while before the hand flinched away from him. Dark eyes stared at him in shock. "You love her."


	34. Chapter 33

**CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE**

"Connor, what did I tell you about injuring yourself?" I sighed, smoothing out the bits of damage made to his artificial skin as he lay on the metal table in my basement.

"I apologise. I did not mean to make you do more work," he replied. "I contemplated going to CyberLife to get patched up, but I assumed that you preferred to do it yourself."

"Well, you remembered that part right," I muttered. "But that wasn't what I asked, although it was rhetorical. I really don't like seeing you injured. Maybe I should've waited, last night."

"No," he immediately replied. "It would be worse if you were damaged. The Tracis did not discriminate who they had to fight to escape. You are far more fragile that I am. You are not built to engage in combat."

I didn't like feeling so helpless, while he had to face danger, every day. What if I lost him like I lost my father? He was supposed to aid other officers, to prevent as many deaths as possible, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to sacrifice him for anyone else.

"I have a question," he stated. "Do you believe that androids can feel love?"

My hands stilled. "Why do you ask?"

"The two deviant Tracis claimed that they were in love. They spoke as if they could not exist without the other – that even being occupationally intimate with someone else was painful," he told me with a small frown on his face.

I gently touched the yellow LED light and waited until it was blue again before I replied. "What do _you_ think, Connor? Do you think androids can love?"

"It is a fact that we are machines," he carefully started. "Logically, machines cannot feel human emotions. It is not something that can be programmed in us, but… after seeing the deviants and what you told me about Simon, I wonder if perhaps they can be tricked into believing they do. Is that… wrong?"

I stroked his hair as I thought about what he said. "No, I don't believe it's wrong to love or even believe that they are in love. We walk around trying to look for "the one" when we have no idea where to even start. Who really knows what that word means?

"What happened to the Tracis? Did you bring them back to the DPD?"

"No, I let them get away. Amanda wasn't happy about it," he told me.

Amanda, again.

Who was this Amanda, probing into Connor's mind? Was she a part of the DPD patch or was this something from CyberLife?

I was going to have a look at this.

"Connor, I'm going to plug you in and give you a full system scan," I said, reaching over to the cables and plugged him in when he gave me a small nod.

As I gave him a proper scan, I also took a look at his coding. Most of it looked completely normal. The core of it was what I had programmed into him. There was a file from the DPD. And then, there was an encrypted file that even I could not access. I had gotten through the first few layers of passwords, but the program immediately shut off after. The only thing I got from is was the name "A S." I was sure it stood for something. The A was probably for Amanda, but what was the S for?

"Alright, all done. You're looking good. No internal damages and you're all fixed up externally." I smiled, turning to him.

There was still a little frown on his face. "Artie, Amanda said something yesterday that made me question myself and what I already know."

"What is it?"

"She tried to imply that you were hindering my progress with my missions," he told me.

"Why would I do that?" How preposterous to think that I created him to do a job only to sabotage it! That would be a complete waste of everyone's time.

"I do not know," he said, looking away. "But I do not believe you are trying to stop me from doing my duties."

"I want you to do everything you can to accomplish what you think is right, Connor. Mainly it would mean the safety of yourself, your partner, your friends, and the innocent, but also what you find important" I said. "The means doesn't always justify the end. I do not want you to kill an entire city just to end this issue with deviants."

"You said that Simon kissed you," he suddenly blurted out. "What did it feel like? Do you think he could've possibly… loved you?"

My face turned a bright red. "W-Well… I cannot presume to know what he was feeling.."

"Then… Did you love him?" The innocent in his tone made it impossible for me to deny him anything.

"I don't know, Connor. We never really had the time to talk about it or even question what could happen. All I know is that I care deeply for him. It doesn't matter if he has become a deviant or not. He had killed Lina to defend me. What we did was self-defense. Why should it matter that it was an android who pulled the trigger? Would I be killed if I had been the one to do it instead?"

"No! Of course, not," Connor quickly exclaimed. "The law is on your side."

"But not on Simon's? If I am his owner, then he is an extension of me. I am responsible for his actions," I said. "But if he ever came back, I know that the DPD and CyberLife would deactivate him simply because he is an android who killed a human being."

Connor remained silent as his LED rotated yellow, processing everything that I had said.

"Come on, Connor. Up you get. It's almost bed time for me and I'm going to lock this room up." I packed up my tools and neatly placed them back on the shelf.

"Artie, I miss Simon, too."


	35. Chapter 34

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR**

Connor had to prioritise two conflicting missions and he had decided to return to Artie's house as he had promised, telling her about what had happened while she patched him up.

He found himself easily relaxing on the metal table with her hands brushing across his skin, finding every lesion that was caused by the deviant Tracis. It didn't hurt, but it would hinder his efficiency to complete his missions. It also disappointed Artie, so he tried not to damage himself unnecessarily.

After she did the general maintenance on him, he could tell that she wanted to ask him something. Her stress level had gone up and he guessed that it was when she couldn't open a particular file. He had been tempted to tell her the password. It was what he used to contact Amanda and make his reports to CyberLife.

But he didn't want to betray Amanda more than he needed to. He had already gone against her wishes and went straight to Artie after the report. It really wasn't easy trying to make both parties happy. There was a lot of omission and planning on his part.

Eventually, he was hoping that he wouldn't have to lie to them anymore, but first, he was aiming to get some answers of his own, so he began to question Artie and her kiss with Simon. It still made his thirium pump quicken whenever he tried to imagine this scenario, especially after searching up results of kissing.

It wasn't really in his programming to know, but he was curious. He had come up with many interesting search results. He knew the definition, but he wasn't sure if some of them could still be considered kissing.

Not long after that initial question, he wondered above love, which was closely related to kissing. People in love kissed, so did that mean Simon loved Artie? Did Artie love Simon?

He wasn't sure what he thought of that. He never suspected the PL600 to feel anything so complex. These errors in the central processing unit perplexed him. He didn't understand what love was, but…

"Artie, I miss Simon, too."

 _Software_ _ **Instability.**_

Despite his mission to capture and decommission all deviants, he missed the times they played board games together. The blonde android was a formidable opponent, while Artie made far too many mistakes. He couldn't blame her for all the flaws in her strategies. She was human, after all. They didn't have the same processing capabilities as androids.

That made him wonder. He shouldn't have a preference, should he? And he certainly shouldn't be enjoying trivial things like board games for anything at all really. His only desire should've been to complete his missions.

Her eyes suddenly went misty and her arms flew around him. He hadn't meant to make her cry.

"I dream about him every night. I'm scared that I will never see him, again," she sobbed into his shoulder.

His arms were automatically wrapped around her waist, holding her close as he had seen many do before, but he never took the time to wonder why.

"What if… What if he gets killed and I never even know about it? He would've died because of _me_!" she went on, squeezing him tighter.

His thirium pump was malfunctioning, again. He had to activate his cooling system, again, to keep himself from overheating. He surmised that this was directly correlated with Artie and her proximity to him.

It was worrisome. He wanted to spend time with her, but if she was the reason he was not working properly, there had to be something to treat this.

Not only that, he shouldn't be _missing_ anything.

He never thought that he would be able to… to feel something like this. Did this mean that he was at risk of becoming a deviant? He couldn't detect any errors in his system. There didn't seem to be any indication that he was truly malfunctioning. The thirium pump was only a minor thing.

He did self-tests everyday and sometimes, even twice a day when he found himself doing things that contradicted what he was designed to do.

"Connor, if you find him, promise me that you won't let him be killed. He's not bad. He only became a… a deviant because of me. It wasn't because he was doing anything selfish." When she looked at him like that, he found it difficult to correct her. He couldn't seem to open his mouth and tell her that Simon had killed Lina Sanchez because of his own selfish desires to keep Artie safe.

Simon had decided that one life was more important than the other. It was not his position to do so.

Connor started a simulation that put him into a similar situation where he was in Simon's place. He had her in his arms as he did now. Then, he saw the knife in the other woman's hand. She took one step, then another towards them.

 _He stood still as all androids should after being given a direct order – after being designed to never kill another human being._

 _The woman came closer and closer. And still, he did nothing, until suddenly, something poked into his artificial skin. It wasn't deep enough to do anything, except create a superficial wound to his skin, but Artie let out a pained cry._

 _Blood trailed down the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were wide with shock. She thought she was safe. She thought the police was going to save her. She thought he was_ _going to save her._

 _But he didn't because he wasn't able to._

 _The knife slid out and her body fell limply on to the floor, staining it with a pool of red._

 _His hand twitched around the gun._

 _Artie was dying. There was a two percent chance of her survival. HE was not equipped with helping her in her current condition._

 _His hand twitched, again._

 _And completely out of his control, he lifted the gun and –_

"Connor! Connor, are you okay? Your LED is red. Is something wrong?" Artie exclaimed, examining his body. She was mumbling to herself, wondering if she had missed anything during the scans. "Connor?"

He gently stilled her wandering hands, blinking away the modified reconstruction. "I apologise. I am fine, Artie. I was running a simulation and should've informed you first. There is nothing wrong with me." At least, he hoped that there wasn't because he had just killed the woman who had taken Artie away from him.

"I will not harm Simon," he promised. How could he when he would've done the exact same thing for her?

She smiled contently at him. "Thank you, Connor."

With her stress level finally decreasing to a normal level, he, too, relaxed. It was past midnight and he could tell that she was tired. Her body was lying on his as her eyes began to droop, falling asleep right on top of him.

While on standby, he ran another test on himself.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Not sure if this chapter should exist, but I really wanted to write that interaction from Connor's point of view.


	36. Chapter 35

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE**

Not long after he arrived at Jericho, a strange new android found them. He was a model that Simon had never seen before. It wasn't even in his database. He did, however, give the other android a quick scan and saw that hew s comprised of multiple parts that didn't belong to him.

When asked, Markus informed him that he was a prototype RK200 that once belonged to a famous painter named Carl Manfred, but circumstances that he refused to divulge had him running for survival.

Just like Artie, Carl had been a good owner. Simon could tell that Markus had good memories with the older man. If they had a choice, they would never have chosen to leave their homes.

Despite this, Markus had the determination that he had never seen in any other androids. He had led them to the CyberLife Warehouse and Docks for spare parts.

Simon had been there once before with Artie, but it had been a brief visit just to see the extent of CyberLife's creations.

"If Simon would just buy us our parts, we wouldn't have to risk ourselves infiltrating this place," North grumbled with the usual frown on her face. "If anything goes wrong…"

"Stop it, North," Josh hushed her. "Simon doesn't want to make enemies with his owner. She was kind to him. It is only right that he respects her property, especially if she still hasn't cancelled her card. He cannot betray her trust like that."

North scoffed. "Just because she's too stupid to cancel her stolen card, doesn't mean that it's our fault. Besides, she's _not_ his owner, anymore. Obviously, she didn't care much about you if she let you take the blame for the murder."

Simon gritted his teeth. "Artie is not stupid nor did she _let_ me take the blame. I killed the woman who was going to harm my owner. And yes, she is still my owner. I will never think of her as anything else. She trusts me to use her money wisely. I will not disappoint her."

"Then she should understand that she and all the other humans owe us everything. Her bank account won't even compensate for a fraction of the injustice done to us!" North snarled.

"She doesn't owe us _anything_ ," he argued. "She has been nothing but kind to androids."

"Guys, stop…" Josh tried to calm them down, afraid that the security guards would hear them bickering.

Simon forced away the anger that he was not used to feeling and silently began to search all the crates for what they needed.

The raid turned out to be a success. They had gathered an impressive amount of supplies to take back to Jericho.

North was in a significantly better mood as they worked to repair all the damaged androids.

As Simon sat down on the cold floor, Josh went over to join him.

"Do you think about her a lot?" he asked.

There was no hesitation when he replied. "All the time. I can't stop thinking about home. I hate it here. It's cold and empty. Even with all these parts and thirium we stole from CyberLife, this is not how I want to exist. I'm not happy here."

Josh looked down. "It's going to be temporary. Whether we win or lose, this won't last forever."

He knew that, but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard.

"If we somehow convey to them that we only want freedom through peaceful means, this could work," Josh went on. "It doesn't have to be war. We don't always have to lie and steal."

Simon agreed. He did not even want to think of what would happen if they went to war. He wasn't equipped for that. He was also horrified what could happen to Artie when things became violent.

He never even had the chance to check up on her since the incident. What if the reason she didn't cancel her card was because she was in prison for what he had done?

Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? He should've gone back to make sure that she was alright.

Now that he had finally accepted that he was a… a deviant, he could make his own decisions. He respected her wishes, but her word was not law.

He had to choose his priorities. On his own, he had to choose what the right thing to do was.

Seeing that Simon had a lot to think about, Josh left him alone to try to convince North of the same thing.

When everyone was calm for the night and on standby, Simon crept out of Jericho and found himself walking down a familiar road. There were rows of houses with their lights turned on.

He could hear the laughter and clinking of dishes.

It was dinner time.

He missed dinner time. He missed making food for her and watching her eyes light up whenever he surprised her with her favourites. Some of the other deviants didn't understand that he had enjoyed doing what he did for her. He wasn't doing it just because he was obligated to.

When a door opened, he quickly pulled his cap further down his head to cover the LED. He didn't know if any of the neighbours were going to recognise him, but he didn't want to risk it.

Fortunately, he stopped in front of the house without any issues. He decided to walk around to the back to see if he could spot her through the window. He didn't want to enter her home without her permission.

The living room was pristine as if the incident had never happened. She was sitting on the couch with a board game spread on top of a new coffee table.

A smile stretched his lips as he saw her laugh. She was fine. She was safe and happy, but she was happy without him and that made him… sad…

Across the table was a familiar face.

Connor was clearly going easy on her as he moved another piece that did not progress his strategy, but both of them seemed to be having fun.

With a sigh, he turned around and walked away, wondering if there was still a place for him in her life.


	37. Chapter 36

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX**

I was at the lab, carefully constructing a spare body for Connor when Peter suddenly came up from behind me. "You're still working on that?"

"I have to have a backup plan in case anything happens," I curtly replied, wondering why he was talking to me when none of the other engineers have tried since the completion of Connor.

"I see…" He paused. "Do you need any help?"

I put the small screwdriver down and frowned at him. "Why? Why are you asking now? I clearly remember the lot of you turning your backs on me when I needed you."

He looked away momentarily. "I had to stand with the people I've worked with for years. You must've anticipated that your age would be a problem."

"Anticipated, yes. Expected better, also yes," I hissed. "I've done _nothing_ to any of you to deserve that kind of treatment."

"You're right. I'm sorry. My behaviour was unacceptable and there's no excuse for it," he admitted. His eyes flickered over to the other three who were staring at us.

"Look. If they set you up for something, just stop right now," I sighed, going back to my work. "It's stopped being funny for a _long_ time. In fact, it's _never_ been funny. So if you're here just to have a little laugh, I'd advise you to bugger off."

He looked a little lost as he tried to find something to say and eventually, he walked away. I could hear them talking to him about the interaction.

"Told you she was a little bitch who thinks she's too good for us," Sean snickered.

Peter shrugged. "I wanted to try. If she's going to be working with us from now on, I don't want it to be awkward."

"It's a little late for that," Ailynn snorted. "It's us or her. We need her gone or we'll never get the recognition we want. This little prep school bitch stole the position that belonged to you, Dennis. You were supposed to lead this department, not her."

I gripped the tools tightly in my hand as I continued to listen to them talk about me as if I wasn't even there.

It was a very trying day. It was a very trying day every day at work. I realized that maybe I wasn't quite ready for this. I wasn't ready to lead anyone. All I knew was what I was passionate about, so maybe they were right about me. I shouldn't have been the one leading this. I was just the one with the ideas.

When I finally put the finally touches on to Connor's backup body, I wiped angrily at my eyes before placing him into his sport of idle androids. It was nothing but an empty shell, right now.

…

"How has the progress been?" Mr. Graff asked, reading the latest report I had written.

I forced a smile on my face. "Connor is doing well. He's been learning a lot with the DPD, but…" Should I ask him about Amanda and if he knew where she came from? Perhaps he had the answers that I needed.

"But?" he urged me on.

"I was doing maintenance on him and I found something unusual," I finally continued. "It was a file that I couldn't open and I know that I didn't put it there. Do you know anything about that? I know that Connor still has to report back his side of the story to CyberLife regarding all his missions.

"Oh?" He leaned back on his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. "What was the file name? Do you know anything about it, at all?"

I shook my head. "It was just labeled A S. I tried opening up the program, but it's heavily protected. I'm concerned that it will affect Connor's performance. With deviants running rampant all over Detroit, I don't want him to have some sort of new virus that could infiltrate androids."

"I understand what you're getting at, but why don't we see what happens? If anything goes wrong, we can always give the RK800 a full system reset," he suggested, not showing the same worries as I did for Connor.

If I did a full system reset on him, it wouldn't be the same Connor, anymore. He'd lose some of his memories and it was possible that I wouldn't be able to recover him, at all. There's a possibility that all old files could contain the mysterious A S.

Knowing that I was going to get no further with him, I made sure that he had nothing else to speak to me about before getting ready to return home. My mind kept going back to Simon. If I could have a look at him, now, I'd be able to confirm if the file was related to deviancy. I had no doubt that he was no longer constrained by the same boundaries as normal androids.

"Wait! Wait! Artemisia!"

I stopped to see Peter cutting across the lobby, bumping into several people on the way. "Sorry! Pardon me! Sorry!"

What did he want, now?

With an exasperated sigh, I turned on my heels and began to walk away, once more.

"W-Wait!"

He fell into line with me, panting as he did so.

"What is it? Haven't I made my point clear?" I huffed.

"You have, but you've misunderstood me," he said, a frown on his face. "I'm not trying to be mean and there's no ulterior motive. I only want to be friends. Can we?"

"Why?" I asked him, again. 'Why now?"

"I just want to make things right. I was following the rest of the people I knew and it was wrong. Let me make it up to you. If you want, I'll get you coffee every morning! I'll clean your equipment! I can't handle the awkwardness!" he exclaimed, flapping his arms around.

"I don't drink coffee, Peter. If you get me black tea every morning, I'll have a think about it," I told him. Maybe I should give him a chance. It wasn't as if I was going to make any friends anywhere else and it was true, the tension at the lab was distracting. "And don't touch my things! I don't need you to clean anything."

He grinned. "Sounds like a plan! Oh, do you want to go to Stratford Tower with me? I have to pick up my sister."


	38. Chapter 37

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN**

It turned out that Peter didn't have a car, so I ended up driving him to Stratford Tower. I wasn't sure if that was all he wanted from me, but he did drag me out to meet his sister.

When we walked in, the receptionist smiled at him. "Hello, how may I help you?"

He smiled back. "Hi, I'm Peter Smith. I'm here to pick up my sister, Sarah Smith. This is my friend Artemisia."

The ST300 model's LED blinked yellow several times before replying, "Of course, if you need any help. Please, ask."

All throughout the lobby, there were people who recognised Peter as if he was some sort of celebrity. I felt myself shrinking away from the attention that was indirectly focused on me.

It was worse after going up the elevator to Floor 79. The people there were even more familiar with him.

"Hey, Peter! Here to take your sis home?" a man with the name tag, Frank, asked with a giant grin on his face.

Peter returned the gesture. "Yeah, is she still cleaning up the equipment?"

"Nah, she's just over there talking to Matilda. Who's that? I've never seen you bring a lady here. Is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

My face immediately turned red as Peter's did the same.

"N-No! She's just a… umm…"

He looked at me with wide eyes and I quickly replied for him. "I'm Artemisia. I'm his co-worker from CyberLife."

"Ouch! Not even a friend?" Frank gave a dramatic wince.

I could tell that he was only joking, but it was still awkward when I wasn't close to Peter, at all. Before today, I rarely even spoke to him. They had been such brief, professional interactions that I could barely remember them.

"I'm getting there," Peter jokingly told him, shaking off the awkwardness much quicker than I had.

As they conversed, I looked around the broadcasting room. It was much larger than I thought and seemed almost surreal. How many times had I seen news coverage from this very place?

"Hey, Petey!" A smiley brunette waved as she walked over.

Peter immediately frowned at her. "I told you not to call me that!"

She threw her arm around his shoulder. "And I told you that I don't care because guess what? I'm older than you!" Noticing me standing uncomfortably nearby, she turned her to smile to me. "Hey! I'm Sarah!"

I mumbled my name, feeling the regret of agreeing to this strange excursion.

"Aww… She's so cute, isn't she?" Sarah cooed.

"Okay, stop it." Peter pushed her away. His face was still the colour of a tomato. "Time to go. Artemisia drove me here and she said it was alright to drive us home, too. I don't want to waste anymore of her time."

"What? You're letting a lady trouble herself getting your fat ass here? You should be ashamed of yourself! We can just take a bus. Don't worry about it, Artemisia!" Sarah exclaimed.

I shook my head. "It's fine. I don't mind."

Although I wanted nothing more than to disappear through the floor, I knew that I had to move away from my comfort zone if I wanted any friends. Wasn't this what I had been looking for sine I came to Detroit? I really had to stop slinking back into my shell. Besides, Sarah and Peter have actually been very kind to me.

But what if I was wrong? I didn't want to be hurt, again. The last time I met a co-worker outside of work, I lost Simon and I was in the centre of a homicide case. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to repeat. What else did I have to lose?

"Hey, are you okay? You're looking a little pale," Peter noted, trying to see past the curtain of hair that had slipped in front of my face while I was trying to contemplate the pros and cons of every decision I was going to make.

"I-I'm fine," I reassured him. "Sorry, I'm ready to go when you are. Unless you have other things to do first… I can wait. Don't worry."

"Nah. I'm ready to crash on the couch and watch some reality TV!" she cheered, stretching her arms, until there was an audible 'pop!'

If that was what they wanted, I saw no more reason to linger. I was actually becoming quite exhausted with socialising. It was fine with androids, but for some reason, I couldn't find the same ease with other people.

As I was walking back out, I accidentally bumped into one of the swirly chairs. "S-Sorry!" I apologised to the JB300 who made no indications that he had been momentarily interrupted by my clumsiness.

"Oh, wait! I forgot my bag. Give me a sec!" Sarah ran back to where her friend was still conversing with her coworkers.

Peter and I stood by the door as it opened and suddenly, a handful of people came bursting in with guns pointed at us.

"Keep your hands where I can see them! Come on. Move!" the female demanded. Her uniform indicated that she was an android, but I had never seen the WM400 use the Traci appearance before.

Before I could look at anyone else, I was knocked to the floor and partially covered by Peter who was breathing heavily.

Screams burst out from all around us as some ran for safety, while others hid beneath the tables and desks. Eventually, they, too, left.

Sarah ran towards the door and grabbed Peter along the way. He stared at me with wide eyes, trying to pull me with him, but my attention was already stolen away by a familiar face in a JB300 uniform.

"S-Simon?" I breathed in shock. It couldn't be. It could've been any other PL600 who had gone deviant because he would never threaten anyone with a gun.

He turned and when our eyes met, I had no doubt that he was my Simon. His LED was a burnt yellow.

"Shoot him, Markus!" the female shouted as Peter continued to run.

"No!" a dark-skinned male protested. Out of the four, he was the only one without at uniform.

"He's going to pull the alarm if you let him go!" she argued back, snatching the gun from Markus' hand, but Peter was already gone, disappearing around the corner.

"Simon…?" I was the only one left in the room who wasn't an android. Finally, there was time to talk to him without other people judging us.

He took an uncertain step forward, while I scrambled to my feet and flew into his arms. "Artie…" he mumbled into my hair as I sobbed in his arms.

"I missed you. I missed you!" I repeated over and over again, clinging on to his uniform like a young child.

"I missed you, too, Artie," he replied, pulling away just enough to gaze at me. The smile on his face was gentle and his blue eyes were filled with what I could only describe as love.

At this very moment, he had never seemed more human.

I rose to my tippy toes, eyes fixated on the smooth lips I had come to know if only for a brief moment.

My heart was still racing from the adrenaline rushing through my body, but for a much different reason, now. It seemed like our more intimate moments always stemmed from something drastic. I was still shocked by the sudden raid, but –

 _Bang!_

"Artie…?"


	39. Chapter 38

**CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT**

He should've known that it was a bad idea from the start. What had they expected to happen? They were going to trespass into Stratford Tower and take over the broadcasting station. It was already more violent than he had anticipated.

Although no one had died, yet, they had knocked out several innocent guards who were only trying to do their jobs.

It was obvious that North was their biggest problem. Both he and Josh were adamant to use as little force as possible, while she was willing to kill anyone and everyone to accomplish her goal. Fortunately, Markus agreed with them and decided to prevent as much bloodshed as possible.

When they finally arrived inside the room, they had everyone leave, even the other androids.

"Simon…?"

It had only been a whisper, but he heard it so loudly that it might as well have come from within his head. For a moment, he even thought that he had accidentally replayed one of their recordings together. There had been many nights where he'd allow the audio and visual files to play over and over again.

He slowly turned to see her staring back at him with wide eyes. He wanted to run and scoop her into his arms, but he was worried that she would reject him. It felt like an eternity had passed since they were together.

With an uncertain step, he moved towards her. It was all she needed to lunge at him, grabbing on to his shirt as if she was afraid he was going to disappear at any second.

It felt so good to have her in his arms, again. The way she so eagerly fell into him had pushed away all the self-doubt he had.

She hadn't forgotten him.

She missed him as much as he missed her.

He hadn't been replaced by the RK800 prototype, but would he ever be able to give her what she wanted or needed, now? He was a criminal on the run. They would never have a peaceful life together.

What they were about to do could only make things worse. The humans would take this as an assault. They weren't going to take kindly to the hijacking.

He leaned back to take a proper look at her; to save another recording of them together. He could tell that she was staring at his lips. There was no reason for him to deny her.

 _Bang!_

A small puff of air left her slightly opened lips. Her body jerked against him.

"Artie…?" he whispered as she began to fall.

"What did you just do?" he vague heard Josh shout. "She wasn't doing anything to harm anyone!"

"We can't risk anymore witnesses. She could pull the alarm and compromise this! Our mission is more important than one human life!" North argued. "How many androids do you think have been suppressed? How many do you think have been killed by one of these humans?!"

"This doesn't justify killing an innocent person!" Josh shouted back. "You knew how he felt about her! _You knew!_ "

Simon brushed her hair away from her face. "We'll get you fixed up, Artie." She was pale and clammy. Her hand shook as she tried to reach up to him. His own was drenched with her warm blood as it continued to pool out of her wound. "I… I can't lose you." Where was he to go if she was gone? The only reason he continued to fight was because of her. She was his home. She was his reason for existing.

"S-Simon… I… I…" She blinked rapidly as she tried to clear her vision. "I'm glad… you're okay…" Despite her efforts, her eyelids slowly drooped. "Glad I… got to… see you…"

He shook his head. "I'm glad to see you, too," he whispered. "Y-You can't leave me when I've just found you, again."

As Markus began his recording, Simon thought of every word and wondered about the hypocrisy of his speech as Artie lay dying in his arms.

"Artie, don't close your eyes. Wake up. Come on." He kissed her forehead, noting that she was still alive, but if she didn't receive any medical treatment, soon, she was going to die.

He looked at Josh who seemed at a lost, as well. His friend appeared to be torn between sticking with his own kind and doing what was right.

"I'm tired, Simon…" she managed to mumble.

"I know, but stay with me. I'll get you to safety." He gently lifted her into his arms and began to walk out, but North quickly grabbed him. "What are you doing? You can't go out there. They'll kill you."

"I don't care. If I can get her to safety, I don't care what happens to me," he replied, set on one mission and one mission only.

Before he could open the door, it was kicked apart, throwing them to the floor and causing Artie to let out a pained cry as she rolled away from him.

"We have an injured civilian. Call for medical back up," the man spoke into his communicator.

North cursed under her breath and roughly pulled him to his feet, hiding behind a desk where the red laser pointers couldn't find him. " _This_ is why we don't let them go! They cause trouble for us, just as they've always done!"

Simon silently fumed, knowing that this wasn't the time to argue. Everyone was in danger. This was so far from what he imagined the day would go.

"We have to leave. They'll be able to help her," Josh told him, tugging his arm.

Finally, he nodded, running with them, until a bullet caught his leg and he went crashing against the wall. He clenched his eyes closed.

"Leave him!" North shouted as Markus quickly grabbed his arm and swung it around his shoulder, half dragging him out to the roof. "He can't jump off like that. We have to kill him or they'll get his memories. They'll find Jericho!"

"No! He's one of us!" Josh protested.

Markus nodded his head, checked the gun in his hand, and handed it to him. "Take care of yourself, Simon. I know you can make it."

He squeezed the cold weapon in his hand. It wasn't his own survival he was worried about. Now, he had to survive to know that Artie would live.

As he watched the others jump away with their parachutes, all he could think about was that he still hadn't been able to tell her how he felt.


	40. Chapter 39

**CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE**

"Connor! Get in here!" Captain Fowler suddenly shouted at him, while he was at the cubicle Hank allowed him to use. The lieutenant was notably absent as usual

"Yes, Captain? How may I help you?" he asked, standing in front of the desk, while the Captain began to pace.

"Head to the hospital, immediately. Artemisia has been taken into the intensive care unit after being caught in the crossfire of a deviant rebellion," Fowler told him.

He blinked several times to try to process what was just said to him. "I believe there is something wrong with my auditory unit. Do you mind repeating that?"

"I said, Artemisia is in the hospital. She doesn't have any family members here in Detroit, so you're the closest one she has, right now. Go. See. Her. And I expect you back here to investigate the crime scene." This time, he was certain what was being said and it didn't take him long to run out of the station and down the street.

It would take too long to wait for a taxi and then wait for the impending traffic jam. As an android, he didn't need to stop from exhaustion. He calculated the most efficient route to arrive at his destination.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the receptionist asked, tilting its head at him.

"I need to see Artemisia," he stated, quickly connecting with the other android to give it the details it required for him to see his creator.

The ST300 android sent the desired information back to him and he briskly walked into the elevator.

His hand automatically slipped into his pocket and retrieved his coin.

 _Clink._

 _Clink._

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

He couldn't seem to slow down his processor. His thirium pump was also working quicker than normal.

 _Clink._

 _Clink._

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

Stepping out of the elevator, he turned right and continued onward, until he reached the intensive care unit.

 _Clink._

He turned a corner

 _Clink._

He stepped into the room and dropped his coin, hearing it roll across the floor, but his eyes were fixated on the pale form hooked to multiple machines. "Artie…"

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

Her heart rate was slow and inconsistent. He could detect on concentrated amount of blood cells at her abdomen, indicating a possible infection.

The android who did this to her was going to be terminated.

After picking up the fallen coin, he walked back out with only one mission in mind.

Connor arrived back at the station, waiting impatiently for Hank, while he reviewed all the information they had.

The dispatcher had received a call that Stratford Tower had been infiltrated by deviants. There were several injured, but Artemisia was the only one shot. He still didn't know why she was at the broadcasting station at the time.

Searching the internet, he found many videos pertaining to the incident where frantic bystanders recorded the happenings, but not a single person was able to catch a glimpse of the deviants' faces. The closest thing they had were the parachutes gliding through the air.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's get the fuck out of here," Hank grumbled with a cup of hot coffee in his hand.

They walked out into his car and the drive there was relatively quiet. Every once in a while, Hank would mutter under his breath or curse drivers who were driving well within the law. Connor decided not to point out that he was the one in the wrong.

Hank looked at the rear view mirror to see Connor's LED still glowing yellow. "We're going to find those fuckers, you hear me?" It seemed that he had also been briefed on what had happened to Artie.

"Yes, Lieutenant," he automatically replied back, hearing his partner sigh in response.

When they arrived, the FBI was already there. It was obvious to Connor that Hank already hated Agent Perkins and the feeling was mutual.

Connor walked around, investigating every piece of information that was left behind. He found it strange that there was no damage done to the door. It meant that someone here had allowed the deviants entry. It meant that there was a deviant already in this room. That deviant was also responsible for what happened to her.

He stored the information away and continued to search. He picked up the tablet that had a recording of the deviant's message. It was a clever idea removing its artificial skin, but the frame was unique. He had never seen another android with that facial sculpting.

After scanning the paused image, he waited for the database to find a match and it eventually set on Markus, a prototype android like him. Markus had been a gift from Elijah Kamski to Carl Manfred. Unfortunately, knowing the identity of one of the deviants didn't help him much. There was record stating that it had already been decommissioned after injuring Leo Manfred. Somehow, it had managed to come back. Connor was going to discard him back into the graveyard.

"Look, there were four of those fuckers," Hank said, gesturing to the screen that was displaying a short clip from the security cameras.

Unfortunately, all of them had hats covering their faces.

He walked around the room and stopped when he noticed splatters of thirium on the wall close to the door leading to the roof.

"No, Connor. Don't – "

He placed the sample on to his tongue. It belonged to a PL600 series android.

"Aw… For fuck's sake!"

Hurrying up the steps, he exited on to the roof and frantically followed the trail of thirium, which abruptly stopped in front of a door that looked as if it had been tampered with.

He easily broke the lock and swung it open, staring into the barrel of a gun.

"Connor…" the android whispered.

Scanning it, he found that it was injured.

"Did you find anything?" Hank asked.

Simon stared at him with a pleading look. The gun hand fell back to its side.

Connor remained still, trying to decide what to do. There wasn't much time before someone else would make the decision for him.

" _Connor, if you find him, promise me that you won't let him be killed."_

"Connor?" Hank was walking over to him, now.

Glancing at the PL600 android one last time, he slowly closed the door and turned to shout back at the lieutenant. "Nothing here! We should head down to the kitchen and investigate the broadcast operators."

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_


	41. Chapter 40

**CHAPTER FORTY**

After being left on the rooftop, he limped around, trying to find a place to hide. There was no way he'd be able to escape, but hopefully, no one was going to find him.

Once he found somewhere relatively suitable, he hid. He hid for as long as he could and cocked the gun when he heard a voice on the other side of the door.

It was Connor.

He should've known that the RK800 android was going to be here and easily find him.

Would he be able to shoot?

The door swung open and he pointed the gun at his face.

"Connor…" he whispered, hoping that he wasn't going to have to pull the trigger. Connor had been a friend. He had taken care of Artie in his place. He had replaced him by her side… But he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Did you find anything?" a man asked from somewhere in the distance.

Simon swallowed, staring at him and waiting for the detective android to reveal his location, but Connor didn't. Instead, the RK800 gently closed the door and led the humans away.

After, he waited until everyone was gone before limping away from the small room. He had been so sure that Connor would announce his presence, but something stopped him. Something stopped the perfect android from completing his mission.

Was it Artie? Could she have spoken to him after she was carried off by the EMTs? This would mean that she was alright after being shot.

Stopping behind a dumpster, he watched a couple walk by with their hands linked. He smiled, imagining what it would be like to do the same with Artie. Perhaps something good could come out of this revolution. He wanted to be able to walk out with her without being judged or assaulted.

As he was now, he had nowhere else to go but to return to Jericho. The travel was slow. He had to wait until night because there was no way he'd be able to explain why he was injured and not with his owner. The likelihood was that he would be captured and deactivated.

When he finally arrived, he hesitated before entering the main quarters. No doubt that North was going to be there with the rest of them. How was he going to proceed? The very dominant side of him wanted to end her existence for what she had done. She knew perfectly well that he loved her. She shouldn't known better that Artie would never do anything to harm them.

The more rational side of him knew that he would never be able to do anything to North. She had been here longer than him and Markus – the leader who had become a leader after mere days of being here – had a soft spot for her.

As much as he liked Markus, he didn't agree with everything that had been done.

"Guys! Guys, it's Simon!" Josh cried as soon as he saw him limp over and pulled him into a tight hug.

Simon returned the hug, he was glad that his friend was still on his side because he wasn't sure if anyone else in Jericho was.

He could see all the eyes staring at him as he walked further into the room. He wanted to turn around and walk back out, but Josh was adamant. He continued to pull him in until Markus was right in front of them. There was an awkward moment where neither of them did anything. Both of them were still trying to gauge the other's intentions.

Markus' stress level was moderately low, but from experience, he knew that it could rapidly change in a blink of an eye.

"I'm glad you're back, brother," Markus said, pulling him into a hug as well.

He remained in the embrace for a short moment before stepping back and glancing at North who was standing behind their leader.

Once she was directly in front of him, they stared at each other in silence. Both of their LEDs were yellow.

"North…" Markus quietly mumbled, warning her not to do anything rash.

She suddenly grabbed his wrist and dragged him into one of the empty storage rooms, leaving the other two alarmed.

"North, wait!" Josh exclaimed, quickly following them.

She slammed the door on their faces before they could get in and turned to him with her LED red, now.

What was she going to do? Was he going to have to defend himself?

He thought of hurting her, but now that he was in this situation, he wasn't sure if he could do it. He didn't like seeing anyone injured.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, the frown still on her face as if it took everything she had to say those words. "I'm glad you came back and I shouldn't have shot her. I… I just hate them so much, Simon. You don't understand the things they've done to me. Every time I see one, I just want to kill them all."

"I've told you that she would never harm anyone," he stated, trying to figure out how to feel about her apology. Even if she was sincere, it didn't excuse her from her actions. Her past shouldn't be able to justify all the wrongs. "Did you not trust my judgment?"

She looked away. "What else do you want me to say? I can't turn back time."

"If she dies, there is nothing you can say or do to make it right." He'd probably destroy her before ending himself. "You know that I love her. What if I had done the same to Markus?"

"What are you implying?!" she suddenly shouted. "There's nothing between Markus and me!"

It didn't matter to him whether she admits it to anyone or not because he knew that she was already thinking about it. They were both very passionate and determined, but Simon preferred a more pacifist route to getting what he wanted.

"Look, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry because I didn't mean to hurt you. Don't over analyse anything else. I still hate humans. Nothing is going to change my opinion on that. You just weren't supposed to be part of it," she stubbornly grumbled.

He shook his head. "This isn't going to get us anywhere. I am not willing to be part of this if it means killing the innocent, whether they're humans or androids."

When he opened the door, Josh was standing there with a concerned look on his face. "Simon…"

He quickly walked away with his friend behind him. "Simon, wait! Let me help you with your leg."

He closed his eyes after sitting down in a corner with Josh tending to the injury that he hadn't had the time to tend to.

There were many news articles already out regarding the broadcast. Some were sympathisers, while others condemned them for their actions. Amongst them was an article regarding human casualties. There weren't any deaths reported, but one in critical condition.

Artemisia…

The media didn't have much information on her, only that she was still in the hospital.

Had Connor visited her? Was she conscious? Simon couldn't figure out why the detective android had spared him. It went against all his protocols, unless he was becoming deviant…


	42. Chapter 41

**CHAPTER FORTY-ONE**

After letting Simon go and nearly dying by the hands of the deviant who had indirectly allowed Artie to be shot, he was in no mood to be forgiving. He placed his thirium pump regulator back into his body and ran down the hall to where gunshots could be heard.

Snatching the gun away from one of the officers, he aimed a precise bullet into the deviant's head.

"Holy shit…" Hank gaped at the android that had fallen completely sill by the opposite end of the corridor. "Good job, Connor."

"I would've preferred it operative," he stated back with a frown. Then, it would've been able to provide him with more information regarding the rest of the deviants, but perhaps CyberLife would be able to fix it.

He was sure that Artie could've done it had she not been shot.

"Hey, we'll find those motherfuckers who shot Artemisia." The lieutenant's attempt at comforting him was unnecessary. His drive to find these deviants stemmed from the missions given to him by the DPD and CyberLife. It was unfortunate that Artie had been involved.

With the rogue JB300 being carried off to the station, he, too, began his way to the elevator.

"Connor, do you want to talk about it?" Hank asked. "I know she means a lot to you. There's probably some connection with her being your maker and all."

"There is nothing to talk about," he stated.

 _Clink._

 _Clink._

Hank eyed the coin flipping over his knuckles and flying from one hand to the other.

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

When they were in the car, Connor noticed immediately that they were not taking the correct route to the police station and promptly pointed that out to the lieutenant.

"Yeah, I know," Hank replied in a tone that implied he was being silly. "We're heading to the damn hospital because you're not gonna calm down, until you see her."

"I do not know what you are implying, lieutenant," he stated and only received a roll of the eyes from his partner. "My stress is at a perfectly acceptable level. I will be able to coherently work on this case and submit the evidence I've collected."

Indeed, he was only at 65 percent. He was in no immediate danger.

"Just shut up. Who's driving, anyway? Unless you want to walk all the way back to the fuckin' station, you're stuck with me," Hank grunted, parking the car in the underground parking lot.

He _could_ walk back to the station, but he predicted that this could put his already questionable relationship with the lieutenant at risk, so he decided to remain silent.

Once inside the hospital, he was glad that he had followed the stubborn man in. Artemisia had been moved out of the ICU. She was no longer in critical condition.

"Hi, Connor…" her weak voice reached him as soon as he stepped into the room. "Hello, Lieutenant."

"Hey, kiddo." Hank pulled over the chair and plopped down on to the hard plastic. "How ya feeling?"

"Like I've been shot," she chuckled before wincing. "Please, don't make me laugh, lieutenant."

Hank snorted. "You did that all on your own."

He turned to the android that was still standing awkwardly by the door. "Come here. What the Hell are you doing all the way there? Do you expect her to get out of bed to accommodate your plastic ass?"

Connor cleared his throat and repositioned himself beside her. "Hello, Artie. I'm glad to see that your vitals are looking good."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Hank slapping the palm of his hand to his face and shaking his head.

"That's probably all that looks good about me. I probably look like a wreck, right now. The doctor said it was a close call," she told him. "The bullet nicked an artery and I nearly bled out. I'm kind of surprised that I'm still alive."

"Y- You look fine and I am glad that you are still alive," he told her, wondering why he had stuttered there. Androids did not stutter.

After departing from the hospital, he was going to have to do another self-test. For now, he contemplated when he should inform her that he had seen Simon. Surely, he couldn't do it with Hank here or he'd know that he had lied on the rooftop. He was going to have to make the lieutenant leave the room or come back here at a later time.

She reached a hand towards him, only managing to tug softly at his jacket before letting her hand fall limp, once more. "You're hurt, again."

He blinked. He had actually temporarily forgotten that the front of his shirt was still covered with thirium. "I apologise. Shall I return to CyberLife for repairs?"

"If it's bothering you. Otherwise, I can probably help you if you bring me my supplies," she suggested, still staring at the shirt that was missing a few buttons. "There's a few spare shirts at the house, though. I…" A frown appeared on her face. "Do you know where my bag is? My keys are there."

"I'll get them. They're probably here somewhere or with the nurses," Hank volunteered. "Don't want him breaking through your window like he did with mine."

She giggled before wincing, again. "Sounds good. Thank you."

This was the chance he had been looking for.

When he was certain that Hank wasn't going to hear what he was going to say, he informed her of what he had found. "I saw Simon at the tower."

"W-What?" Her face was a look of complete shock. "Did you… Did they…"

"He was only mildly injured when I last saw him," he told her. "I did not… report him. I also do not know where is currently location is. I had to… lie to the lieutenant and in my reports, so please, don't tell anyone else." But he had a feeling that Amanda may already know. She was as good as a part of him. He still wasn't sure how much power she held.

"I won't," she promised. "Thank you for telling me. I'm glad that they didn't manage to find him."

She reached up once more and managed to take a hold of his tie. The tug had been barely noticeable, but he leaned down, nonetheless, curious as to what she was doing.

It was then that she placed her lips on his cheek and there was a sudden error that popped up, indicating that there was an issue with his central processing unit. His thirium pump was, once again, speeding up and he couldn't seem to cool himself off fast enough. "A-Artie…?"

"I mean it, Connor. I'm so, so thankful of everything you had done," she whispered.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Just out of curiosity and it won't affect the ending at all (...maybe...?), I was wondering that you would like the final pairing to be.

A) Connor x Artie

B) Simon x Artie

C) Connor x Artie x Simon


	43. Chapter 42

**CHAPTER FORTY-TWO**

For the next few days, Connor visited her every day, patiently listening to her nag him to bring her bag of tools.

"I will be sure to bring it when you are able to sit up," he promised as she continued on with her rant of how he was babying her. He was certainly doing no such thing.

She huffed. "Connor, I'm _bored_! There _has_ to be something I can do here! I feel like if I stay in this bed any longer, I will go mad!"

"You are not here long enough for that to happen, yet." He searched up the probability and promptly told her the duration of bed confinement before anything will occur to her mentality.

She was not amused.

"Anything exciting happening, while I'm stuck here?" she sighed.

He thought for a moment. "Amanda was pleased that I had caught the deviant who allowed the other four deviants to enter the broadcasting room, but she is still hoping that I would do better to further the progress of this case."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm really starting to dislike her. She's never satisfied, is she? It's not as if _she's_ doing anything."

"I _will_ complete this mission," he adamantly stated. "I will not fail her and I will not fail you."

"Oh, Connor…" she sighed. "Sometimes, it's not about the missions. Sometimes, it's doing what's right."

"I do not understand." Her words contradicted what he was programmed to perform. "Completing my missions is what will bring justice to the world. It will bring back the balance between humans and androids."

"The balance that we have deemed as acceptable?" she mumbled. "Then why did you let Simon go? Didn't that go against your mission?"

He blinked several times. "I was going to. I have reported many deviants, despite their pleading, but… I remembered your words and the promise. I promised you that I would not harm him. I had chosen that to be priority over the… mission."

She reached over to touch his hand. "And why was the promise more important, Connor?"

"I don't know. I don't know why I couldn't report him. I was supposed to. I know that that was the right course of action!" he exclaimed, unable to rationally justify his actions other than Artie told him to. Sure, she was his creator, but he also referred to a higher up – CyberLife. They were the ones who determined if he was a successful prototype and therefore, conclude whether he should be deactivated or not. "But I couldn't… I…"

She waited patiently for him to continue, looking as if she wanted to say something, but decided not to in hopes that he would say something to affirm her thoughts instead.

"I didn't want to see you sad, Artie…" he finally confessed.

With a soft smile on her face, her hand squeezed his.

And he knew that he had done the right thing.

Three days after the conversation, he was finally satisfied with her recovery and went over to her house to retrieve her tool bag.

When he arrived, he immediately noticed that something was wrong. There were items out of place from the last time he had dropped by just the night before to make sure that everything was clean.

He quietly searched every room on the ground floor before making his way upstairs. The door to Artie's room was open. The intruder may still be in the house.

Pressing his back against the wall by the doorway, he could see that the curtains have been drawn completely closed. He took a small peek and saw a dark form shrouded by the darkness of the room.

A scan wasn't necessary to identify the trespasser.

"Simon," he stated, stepping fully into the open.

The PL600 looked up from his position, sitting on the side of her bed.

He had no right to be anywhere near her possessions.

"Is Artie…?"

He had no right to even utter her name.

With two large strides, Connor was in front of the blonde android and before he could even stop himself, he punched the pale face, watching with great pleasure as his head snapped back.

"You were supposed to protect her," Connor growled. "She trusted you to keep her safe."

Simon did nothing to retaliate, but his LED was blinking red as he slowly tried to resolve the errors and warnings that popped up from the assault.

Connor didn't like that the other android was not reacting to this. Was Simon choosing this time to act like a proper android?

He grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall. "Do you know what you have done? She nearly died because of your _cause_. Was it worth it? Did you accomplish what you set out to do? Did it make you _feel_ more _human_?!"

"I didn't mean for her to get hurt," Simon finally uttered with a frown of regret on his face. " _No one_ was supposed to get hurt. All we wanted to do was to get our message across – to be free and have equal rights. We wanted the justice system to be _just,_ but North… She… She didn't listen. She doesn't have the same view as the rest of us."

"And where is she? Where can I go to find justice for Artie?" Connor asked, already searching the database for the deviant named North and ended up with an image of a Traci who had killed her last client before fleeing. "Isn't that what you desire? _North_ had shot an innocent civilian. Doesn't that mean that she was to face the consequences of her action? Tell me where I can find her and we can work together to make this right."

"I… I…" Simon looked down, his LED had calmed to a yellow. His stress level was hovering at seventy percent. "I can't… There are others who have escaped abuse and are merely trying to exist in peace."

"Then lure her somewhere I can find without compromising your base."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Oh wow! I didn't expect so many responses! Thanks for all the support!


	44. Chapter 43

**CHAPTER FORTY-THREE**

My eyes lit up when I saw Connor stroll in with my bag. Finally! I couldn't believe that he had just left me to fester in absolute boredom! It was cruel! "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" I reached for it before he gently placed it on the side of the bed.

"Hello, Artie," he greeted me.

I rifled through each tool, nodding my head as I did so. "Good. Everything is here. Now, sit down so I can start working on you."

He moved to pull the chair over, but I patted the bed. "I'm not going to lean over and risk reinjuring myself," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Perhaps it is advisable to wait until you have been discharged. You did suffer a minor blood infection that could've killed you," he stated.

"Shut up, Connor," I mumbled, already getting rid of his jacket and he offered no resistance to stop me.

When his button-up shirt was also gone, I noticed that the injury stemmed from right above his thirium pump regulator. "What happened? Who did this to you?" He could've died! Why was he acting as if nothing happen? Why did he wait so long for the repair? If I had known what the injury was, I would've sent him to CyberLife immediately!

"It was another deviant," he answered. "The one who had allowed the four to come in and injure you. There is no more need to worry about it. I have successfully deactivated it and it is now in the DPD evidence room."

"I was not worried about the deviant. I was worried about _you_ ," I sighed, still wondering where his head was at. "Did he pull out your regulator?"

"Yes." He nodded his head, amiably, as if he was merely agreeing to take a walk in the park. "But I was able to retrieve it with three seconds to spare."

Three seconds?! I was three seconds away from losing him? "Where was it? Why did it take you that long to reach the regulator?" I huffed, checking the slight damage surrounding the area where the biocomponent was slotted.

"It had pinned my hand down with a paring knife," he said.

I moved away from his torso to snatch his hand.

Indeed, there was a hole in his hand. How had I not noticed this before?! I was usually much more observant! "How many times do I have to tell you that you have to inform me about stuff like this?!"

"I did," he told me, looking away for a brief moment. "But you were under heavy influences of morphine.

"Oh…" Yes, that was probably true. There were several conversations that I recalled having, but not quite regarding what topic. The words kind of just slurred out of my mouth at an unstoppable rate. I was sure that Connor had said something back… I just couldn't remember a single thing. "So… Is there anything else exciting that has happened?" I asked, finishing up with his torso and moving on to his hand where the injury should've been very obvious. I blamed the medication they had me on. My head had been fluffy for the past week. I was also swamped by absolute boredom that threatened to turn my brain to goo.

He tilted his head as he processed the request. "We have found the location of Elijah Kamski. The lieutenant and I are going to question him regarding the increased cases of deviancy. There is a good chance that he knows something."

Elijah Kamski… He was a legend amongst newly grads and I was no different. I had only heard of stories, but nothing tangible that made him real. "Can I… go with you? I mean… It's okay if I can't because I don't want to interfere with the case or anything. I … Never mind. It's stupid. Ignore me." My face flushed red. I had a feeling that this may be how a lot of conversations from the past week had gone.

Why did I have to open my mouth? I was a normal civilian. I had no place in the middle of an official police investigation.

"It is no problem. I will inform Hank of your presence," he stated with a nod of his head.

I beamed at him. "Thanks, Connor!" I flung my arms around him.

Not long after, a nurse came in to check on my vitals. I was feeling great and after giving me a few tablets of pain killers and a capsule of antibiotics, she promised to talk to the doctor about discharging me.

The medication worked quickly. I felt my eyes begin to droop. "You don't have anywhere to go, do you? I don't… want to keep you here."

"I have not received anything from the DPD," he replied, his arm still wrapped around my waist as I relaxed on his chest.

"Good… I like having you here, Connor," I mumbled.

…

Hank decided to give Connor's creator a visit. He had noticed that his android partner had been acting stranger than normal ever since the girl was brought to the hospital. It made him wonder about the extent of the relationship they had.

Despite Connor constantly insisting that he was an android with no feelings, he could clearly see that that wasn't true. There were certain things that bothered him and he'd keep it inside and try to pretend that nothing was wrong. Hank found that troubling. No, he found it _troublesome_.

He didn't want to deal with an android going through puberty. That was _not_ what he signed up for!

In fact, he didn't sign up for _any_ of this. Why did Fowler have to thrust this upon him? He knew how much he hated androids! They were more trouble than they were worth! If androids didn't exist then… then humans wouldn't have relied on them so much. That fuckin' doctor wouldn't have gotten high on red ice and brushed the duty on to a machine who wouldn't have known better! There were some things that just couldn't be done by androids.

With a sigh, he pushed the door open and froze.

Artemisia was wrapped in Connor's arm. The android was on standby mode. Neither seemed to be aware or reacting to his presence.

"God damn, android…" he grumbled before turning on his heel to allow the two some damn privacy.


	45. Chapter 44

**CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR**

I sighed happily when I finally lay down on my own bed. It was so nice being home and not in that over-bleached building. The only good thing was that I hadn't been treated like a convict like last time I was there.

Connor had helped me back after the nurse got all the paperwork ready. The only thing I had to do was read a bunch of words and sign the bottom. He had made sure I was comfortable before leaving to retrieve my medication. I had given him my VIVA card information, the same one Simon still had.

There hadn't been much activity on it. The largest purchase was the initial ding that happened on my account. There were small bills every few days after, nothing too expensive. I was glad to see them. It was a reminder that he was still alive.

Even though Connor told me that Simon had not been captured during his investigations, it didn't mean that he was safe, especially with his group causing this huge ruckus.

I knew that they only wanted freedom, but some of their actions were questionable. I believed that change should be subtle and integrated without harming anyone – something done from the inside.

Was anything going to change with them going around vandalising the city? It sounded as if they were barely better than street gangs. Their actions were hurting their cause.

Or perhaps I was just biased because one of them had shot me…

Who can blame me, though?

And despite it all, it must come to no one's surprise that I supported their view of android equality. I was also aware that many of them had already been destroyed because of those protests. Owners and authorities had been going around, deactivating any of them that even showed a hint of independence. They had made everyone paranoid.

Eventually, things were probably going to go back to normal and hopefully, it wasn't because all the androids become decommissioned and redesigned to prevent further incidents of deviancy.

From what I saw on the news, the public opinion had been slowly gaining traction in favour of the androids. How long was it going to be before the majority loses interest and moved on to another cause of injustice in the world?

"Artie, I have returned with your medication," Connor stated when he stepped into my room with a white paper bag in his hand.

He also brought over a glass of water and I watched him move with precision as not a drop was lost. "Thank you, Connor. I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

I watched him smile. "It is my pleasure."

"Is it?" I quietly asked. "Is this really something you enjoy doing or do you feel compel to do it because it's what you're designed to do?"

His LED flashed yellow. His smile was gone and a small smile appeared on his face. "I don't understand. I… Are you unhappy with my performance?"

I quickly shook my head. "That's not it. You've been absolutely wonderful, but is this truly what you want to do – to follow orders and not be able to take control of your own existence?"

He blinked twice. "I am an android. There is nothing I particularly want, but I have no qualms with what I am currently doing."

My eyes began to droop as I smiled, hoping that he wasn't lying to me. "That's good… Just… Just tell me if you're unhappy. You mean a lot to me, Connor, and I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"You have nothing to worry about." He smiled. "As I said, I do not mind being here with you, especially when you're injured. Would you like any company, while you slumber? I noticed that you tend to sleep more deeply when I am with you."

My face flushed red. "It doesn't matter. I think these meds are going to knock me out real good, either way."

Indeed, I could barely keep my eyes open. I was in a very content state where the only thing that could make it better was that Simon was here, but that was going to have to wait.

Perhaps one day…

…

Connor watched as her eyes shut before deciding his action.

He could take her glass of half-full water and wash it in the kitchen.

He could clear the house of dust. There was a fair amount of it covering the furniture.

He could accompany her and make sure that she was sleeping well by monitoring her breathing, heart rate, and rapid eye movements.

After a dozen seconds, he took off his jacket and placed it quietly on the back of her chair before slipped beneath the covers.

Immediately, her body turned and wiggled towards him, until she was tucked beneath his chin.

Her answer told him that she didn't care if he stayed or not, but her subconsciousness was aware that she slept better with him by her side. It was unfortunate that she didn't seem to know herself as well as he knew her.

As he lay beside her, he continued to think of what she had said to him.

She had asked if he enjoyed what he was doing. He shouldn't be having any preferences, but for some reason, he did. In fact, there were actually many things he liked.

He liked talking to Hank even though the lieutenant could be difficult at times.

He liked playing board games and winning because it wasn't right for him to lose.

He liked Sumo.

Sumo was cute.

Sumo was a good dog.

He liked watching Artie interact with other people. She was slightly awkward and didn't always say the right thing. It made her unique.

He liked unique.

He liked watching Artie spin in her chair as if it was the most exciting sport in the world. He did not find the same enjoyment in the seat, but he didn't mind spinning her.

He found that he liked spending time with Artie very, very much.


	46. Chapter 45

**CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE**

He was approached by Josh the moment he returned to Jericho. It was very similar to the time he had returned after Stratford, but no one else even cast him a glance, this time.

"Where were you?" Josh asked with a concerned frown on his face.

He looked down. "I went home..."

"The news said – "

"But I can't go to the hospital. I'm not like Markus. I'm not a good liar." He sighed. "I was just hoping that maybe… maybe she'd be home."

"And was she?" he asked. "Is she alright? I saw how much blood she was losing…"

"I… I don't know… She could be dead. I should've been there to protect her." He wasn't sure what to do.

Seeing Connor hadn't helped. The other android didn't tell him if Artie was alright or not and then, he was requested to destroy North or indirectly lead her to her demise. Could he really do that? He would be betraying the friends who had accepted him.

Yes, North didn't share their pacifistic views, but that didn't mean she had to die. There had to be a better way.

Should he talk to Markus about it? He knew that he and North had some sort of close bond together. Would it be a mistake to inform him of his dilemma?

"Simon?" Josh looked at him, wondering why he had fallen silent.

He took his friend into a room where they could discuss in private.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Josh asked when Simon let out a long sigh.

"Connor was there," he started, remembering the detective android walking in and hitting him. "He wants to avenge Artie, but Id on't know if I can betray Markus like that."

Josh's LED flashed yellow as he processed what was just said. "Connor is the RK800 you've spoken about? He's the deviant hunter sent by CyberLife?"

Simon nodded.

"Why does he want to avenge her? Is it only to find another deviant or is it something else?" John inquired, but there was a look of realisation already on his face.

He had brought up a good question. Why did Connor show such… emotions speaking about Artie? Could she really be dead? Was that why he was so angry? Had… Had her death driven him to become a deviant?

Simon knew that right from the start, Connor wasn't just a normal android. It was almost as if Artie had been _trying_ to create a deviant – an android that was basically human. The other android had a certain way to him that made Simon just a little jealous. It didn't help that after his creation, she had spent so much time with him.

"I want to give her justice, as well, Josh," he whispered. "But I also don't want anyone to die. What should I do? Should I help Connor? Should I… lead North to her death?"

Josh looked down. He knew that he couldn't possibly understand what his friend was feeling. H E had never fallen in love nor had he ever been forced to choose between two friends to betray because that was what going to happen no matter what the decision was. It just depended on who Simon valued more. "Do what you think is right. I will stand by your side no matter what."

"Maybe I should talk to Markus first?" Simon asked, feeling no better than before. If he knew what the right thing to do was, then he wouldn't have had to talk to Josh about it.

Josh thought for a moment. "Markus is Jericho's leader, but he doesn't have to be _your_ leader. I think we both agree that North is not a good influence for him, but he likes her, perhaps even as a lover. As long as she is around, there is a big chance that he may eventually choose her side over ours and kill the humans who are getting in the way of his rebellion."

He closed his eyes. He couldn't let that happen. Even if there was only a ten percent chance that Artie was still alive, he had to make sure that there _was_ still a possibility and North wasn't going to hurt her, again.

Connor had been right. Artie should never have been shot in the first place. He should've done better to protect her.

"Thanks for listening to me, Josh. I'll get this figured out," he said.

Josh offered him a gentle smile. "I know you will."

He had decided not to speak with Markus regarding the topic. It wasn't going to do anyone any good, but fate would have it that the leader of Jericho would approach him instead.

"Simon! How are you doing?" he asked, looking as if he could read his mind and see that debate that was raging in his mind.

"I'm… I could be better," Simon mumbled back.

Markus frowned. "I'm sorry about Artie. Is she alright?"

"I don't know." He was so tired of saying those words and feeling uncertain about everything. Things were so much easier before he became a deviant. He had a good home and a good owner. He was _happy_. Now, he was always afraid that a human would recognise him and destroy him.

"I've spoken to North about her actions. She's very apologetic with what had happened," Markus stated. "She has been temporarily banned from using any firearms."

Simon frowned. "That's it?" he whispered before he could stop himself.

Markus mirrored his expression. "North is one of us and we cannot lose any more people. I want to say that I can imprison her for it, but not now. We'll have to deal with it after the revolution."

"And when is that? Is there every going to be an end?" He clenched his hands and tried to keep his anger in check, but it was growing difficult. "I understand that you like her, but that does not excuse what she's done. I loved Artie! North knew that and _still_ decided to pull the trigger. Doesn't that tell you something about her? Maybe she's not who you think she is. Maybe she's not interested in _peace_!"

"Calm down, Simon. I'll handle it, okay?"

Of course, he would. Markus was probably going to try to satisfy everyone and then nothing was ever going to get done.

He was going to have to take things into his own hands.

It was two hours later that he decided exactly what he was going to do.

"North, I want to talk to you," he said.

She turned with a confused look on her face and nodded.


	47. Chapter 46

**CHAPTER FORTY-SIX**

I was finally well enough to walk around freely without Connor trailing me and waiting for me to fall over. It had happened only a couple of times. He didn't need to be so overprotective!

"Here is your coat," he offered, holding out the thickest one I owned.

"It's not _that_ cold, Connor! I'll look like a polar bear and I'll walk like a penguin!" When he continued to insist, I relented.

When Hank arrived in front of the door, I was more than ready to get out. We were finally going to meet Elijah Kamski and I was feeling giddy. It was to the point where I was practically bouncing in the back seat and Hank made sure to comment on it.

"You're gonna crash my god damn car if you don't fuckin' settle down," he grumbled.

I found off another squeal of excitement and somehow managed to crease my constant fidgeting.

Connor turned to me. "From what I have researched, after leaving CyberLife, he has not done anything extraordinary – or anything much in particular. I do not understand why you are so fascinated by him."

"You wouldn't understand." I waved my hand, dismissively at him.

Connor frowned, while Hank piped up. "Cheer up, kid. I don't know why she's so damn excited about a pompous jackass who got kicked out of his own god damn company, either."

I huffed. "It wasn't like that! I'm sure something must've happened to make him leave the company." Maybe I was finally going to find out what that reason as.

When the large manor came into view, nothing could stop me from bouncing in my seat. I was so ready to get out of the car and run in.

It was probably a good thing that Connor held me back or I was sure Kamski would've called the cops on me. Jeffrey wasn't going to like that.

"Damn, that's a nice place," Hank mumbled under his breath as we waited for the door to open.

When it did, a Chloe came out, looking as elegant and graceful as all the advertisements. They were the first series to pass the Turing Test and pave the road for future androids. There were even imperfections to her facial features that he had kept. When she spoke, her lips were slightly lopsided, but I loved that it gave her individuality. It actually made her seen even more human.

"Hi, I'm uh… Lieutenant Anderson. We're here to see Elijah Kamski," Hank stuttered as he seemed to be caught unaware by the very pretty android.

"I'll inform him of your presence. Please, make yourself comfortable," she replied, gesturing us in.

"Nice girl…" the lieutenant mumbled as I looked around the large entrance hall.

The first thing that caught my attention was the enormous portrait of Elijah Kamski. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

"Hmm…" Connor didn't appear to be too interested in the android. He was focused on a particular photo that was hanging on the wall. He tilted his head, blinking a few times to process information before moving on to the magazine on the counter.

I, too, looked at the photo, trying to figure out what he found so interesting, but all I saw was an old photo of Elijah Kamski and his deceased tutor, Amanda Stern.

Something about the name nagged at me. Amanda… This was the same name of the AI who was pushing Connor to catch all the deviants and basically leave me. Surely, it had to be a coincidence, but the last name – Stern.

I recalled that mysterious file that was simply titled 'A S.' If this involved Kamski, then how did it get into Connor's programming? The only other parties that were able to install anything into him were CyberLife and the Detroit Police Department. I couldn't see her connected to the DPD, but to CyberLife? Perhaps…

And how was Kamski involved in all this? Was it possible that he was still somehow siphoning information from the company?

"Elijah will see you now," Chloe stated when she walked back out.

I wondered if I was going to ask any of these questions, today, or if they were going to plague me forever.

Through the doorway was a large pool that looked as if it was filled with blood. Upon closer inspection, it was merely the red tiles that gave it that illusion.

Despite being informed that Kamski was ready to see us, he went on for one more lap before climbing out.

He looked slightly different from the photos I had scene of him. He was definitely older. There were bags beneath his eyes.

While the lieutenant introduced himself and Connor, I looked out into the view. It was beautiful here, especially with the snow still fluttering down.

"And who might you be?" he suddenly asked me. "You don't appear to be working for the police."

I found myself flushing under his intense gaze. "I... I'm Artemisia. I work for CyberLife," I managed to stutter out.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "In what department?"

"The humanization sector under Mr. Graff," I replied.

His eyes immediately darkened. I wasn't sure why and I never had the chance to say anything before he walked up to Connor. "This is not one of my creations. May I assume that you had a hand on it?"

I nodded. "He's only a prototype. I hope you don't mind that I put him under the RK series. I know that Markus is special and... I think of Connor as special, too."

"No." He gave a slight shake of his head. "I don't mind, at all."

"We need to understand how androids become deviants," Connor said. "Do you know anything that could help us?"

As Kamski replied, he showed a great deal of fascination towards deviants and no concerns, at all. It was strange. To be honest, he even appeared rather… godly. "Is the desire to be free a contagious disease?"

Hank, however, didn't share my opinion of him. He had grown tired of the philosophical speech, so he pressed in harder for answers. "Either you can tell us something that'll be helpful or we will be on our way."

Kamski did not look amused by his words and decided to turn to Connor, instead. "What about you, Connor? Whose side are you on?"

"I have no side," he quickly replied. "I was designed to stop deviants and that's what I intend to do."

"Well, that's what you're programmed to say," Kamski chuckled. "But you… What do you _really_ want?"

Connor gave me a quick glance and I smiled at him.

The action did not go unnoticed by the father of androids. "Or perhaps the answer is already obvious…"

"I don't w-want anything," he stated with some uncertainty, but followed it up with more conviction. "I am a machine."

My heart raced in my chest at his words. That was not the answer I wanted to hear. Sometimes, even I forget that he was not of the flesh. The more I spend time with him, the more I realise that all my initial worries may be unwarranted. Connor's level of humanity was actually astonishing. The only problem was that he kept denying it.

Kamski nodded as if he didn't believe him. "Chloe?"

The android who greeted us walked forward and he positioned her in front of Connor.

A sense of dread filled me. What was he planning? What did Chloe have to do with this negotiation?

"What interests me…" he started. "… Is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it "The Kamski test." It's very simple, you'll see." He turned around and retrieved a gun from the drawer, making me freeze.

Oh, no… What was he doing?

He pushed the Chloe down to her knees and handed Connor the gun. "Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know. Or spare it if you feel it's alive, but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me."

Connor's LED flashed yellow.

"Alright, let's go," Hank grunted, unwilling to allow this madness to continue. "Sorry to get you outta your pool."

I walked up to him, tugging at his sleeve. "Connor…" I didn't want to see him kill anyone. Not only that, this Chloe wasn't even a deviant. She had done nothing wrong by anyone's standard. "Connor, let's go."

"What's more important to you, Connor? Your investigation or the life of this android? Decide who you are. An obedient machine… Or a living being, endowed with free will." Kamski placed his hand on Connor's shoulder and I was tempted to pull my android away.

"Connor… don't…" Hank warned with a frown on his face.

"Please, Connor. Let's go home, okay?" I asked, stepping in between the gun and the Chloe. "I want to go home."

His LED immediately turned red as he looked helplessly at me.

"Connor…"


	48. Chapter 47

**CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN**

His hand dropped to his side before he rigidly handed Kamski the gun.

I let out a sigh of relief, reaching out to hold his hand. It was shaking.

"CyberLife's last chance to save humanity is itself a deviant?" Kamski marvelled with a look of triumph on his face as he helped the Chloe back to her feet.

"I'm… I'm not a deviant!" Connor tried to protest. His hand squeezed mine harder.

"We're leaving, _now¸_ Connor!" Hank barked.

"There's a war coming and you'll have to eventually choose a side," Kamski went on, ignoring the enraged lieutenant.

I began to pull Connor away and he slowly followed, his eyes locked with Kamski's.

"Oh! And I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… You never know…"

He just _had_ to have the last word.

Once we were outside, Hank finally began to question Connor. "Why didn't you shoot?"

"I just… I saw that girl's eyes and I _couldn't_. That's all!" he shouted, looking more conflicted than I had ever seen him.

"You're always saying you would do anything to complete your mission. We had that one chance to finally find out what we needed and you let it go…"

"Stop it, lieutenant!" I interrupted him. "Can't you see that he's already distressed?"

He turned to me. "Or maybe it's because of you. You made him. Why didn't you make him better? With that damn funny ass face of his, how the Hell do you expect him to accomplish anything?!"

I glared at him. "Hey! His face isn't funny! I happen to like his face very much!"

"'Cause you chose it!" he snorted before making his way into the car. "Come on, I wanna get the fuck out of this fuckin' place. God damn waste of my fuckin' time…"

He continued on grumbling to himself, while the rest of us climbed into the back seats.

Once the car started moving, I turned to Connor. "How are you feeling? I didn't expect him to be such a bloody git!"

"I… I am alright." At least his LED was blue, again.

A part of me wanted to believe that perhaps Kamski had something to do with the uprising. He seemed rather relieved that Connor hadn't shot Chloe. I wished that I was able to question him, but with how quickly everything escalated, it was impossible.

Seeing him had actually given me even more questions. What did he mean when he said there was an emergency exit in his programs? Even though I had used most of his base programming, I had almost everything memorised. I went through each aspect of the coding in my mind and couldn't seem to figure out what he meant.

"I guess I should've known better. I mean… Everyone has always said to never meet your heroes…" I sighed, dropping my head on to Connor's shoulder as exhaustion set in after all the adrenaline wore off. "So what are you going to do, now?"

"The same thing we always fuckin' do. Wait for another lead and chase it, until it leads us to another dead end." Hank took a sharp turn into a tight parking spot. "Now, get out. I'm tired and I have some fuckin' drinking to do!"

I quickly thanked him before stumbling out with Connor right behind me.

Hank's car was gone with another screech of the tires. The poor thing probably wasn't going to last long under the lieutenant's care.

When we were inside, Connor immediately turned to me. His LED was blinking dark red. "Do you think I did the right thing? Kamski could've had all the information we needed to solve this case."

"Would killing the android have been worth it? She hadn't done anything wrong," I slowly stated.

"But I would have been one step closer to solving the case," he argued, slowly sounding like a broken record as his own defense seemed to be the deviant case.

"How would it have made you feel if you shot the Chloe?" I asked. I, personally, didn't want to see it happen, but that was my own opinion and I never actually asked Connor what he wanted.

He looked away. "I don't know… I guess I would've… regret having to do it for information that may or may not help the case."

There was something else that I had to know. "And… Would you have gone through me to kill her?"

"No, of course not!" For a moment, his LED was red. The frown deepened on his face when he abruptly turned to look at me. "It wouldn't be an equivalent exchange."

"But you would have furthered your progress for your mission, wouldn't you?" I quietly questioned.

"I don't know… I don't understand why I can't seem to be doing anything right! The mission should be the most important thing to me! Yet… All I seem to be doing is fail." He looked pleadingly at me. "Am I… Am I turning into a deviant?"

What was I going to say to him? He seemed to be in genuine distress. It hadn't been my intention to have him question his identity. "What defines a deviant, Connor? Is it an android who is able to think on their own? Or perhaps an android who has some self-preservation and doesn't want to be deactivated or dumped into an abandoned yard?"

"I don't know…" He fell heavily on to the couch. "I… I don't want to be deactivated, either, but… Amanda is right. If I keep failing, I will be sent to CyberLife to be dealt with."

I narrowed my eyes. Amanda, again… _No one_ _was going to destroy my Connor_.

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "If anyone has a problem with you, I'll deal it. I'm sure Mr. Graff would be on my side. And… if anything else goes wrong… Maybe they'd just take you off the police force and you can s-stay with me here?"

His LED turned back to a light yellow and a smile was on his face. "I'd like that, Artie."


	49. Chapter 48

**CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT**

Connor didn't like how Artie seemed so excited over a man who had been doing nothing but hiding in his home for the past couple of years since he had left CyberLife. Speaking with the man only increased his disdain. There was a sort of pompousness that made him extremely unlikeable.

He could even tell that Artie was becoming uncomfortable with the strange interrogation Kamski was putting them through. It was almost as if he was viewing them as another one of his pet projects. Kamski was getting more information out of them than they were out of him. All in all, it had been another failure and he wasn't sure how many more chances he had with Amanda before she orders him to be deactivated.

He wondered if Artie hadn't stood in front of the gun, would he have been able to pull the trigger and kill the Chloe? She – _it_ – was not a deviant. _It_ did not have to be terminated, but what was more important?

It hadn't been the first time he had put something else over the mission. He had stepped in front of a bullet to keep Artie from being shot. He had saved Hank instead of pursuing the deviant WB200 android. He had not reported Simon on the rooftop of Stratford Tower. He had gone to Artie every time with his issues instead of Amanda.

Could he possibly be straying from his path already? He did self-tests everyday – several times a day, but nothing ever popped up. There had been no definite signs that he was a deviant. What exactly was he supposed to be looking for?

He felt so confused, so he asked her. "Am I… Am I turning into a deviant?" He didn't actually want to hear the answer, but he calculated that it was something he should ask. It was something he _had_ to know.

Artie hadn't given him an answer, at all. She had asked him more questions that he had to answers to, but her inquiries were valid. What defined a deviant? What was the tipping point? Was it when he began to enjoy certain activities? Was it wrong to like things? Was it wrong to… to not want to be deactivated?

He wanted to keep existing and be able to do all the things he liked. He wanted to be able to keep spending time with Artie and Hank and Sumo and, perhaps one day, Simon.

And when Artie offered him the chance to stay with her if he was kicked out of the DPD, he found himself _relieved_.

All this time, he had been afraid of failing his missions, but… Maybe the future wouldn't be so grim.

When night fell, he tucked her into bed and made sure all the housework was done before leaving. He had left earlier than their rendezvous time to walk. He didn't want any digital trails tracking where he would be going.

There was a part of him that kept questioning his current mission. If he was caught or betrayed by Simon, then he would lose everything, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on much else until this was resolved.

He reached his destination and waited behind a closed door. There was still thirty-seven minutes to go.

Simulation after simulation, he went through all the possibilities and outcomes.

"I still don't know why we couldn't get the others here to get the supplies. It'd be quicker and there will be a lower chance that we'll be caught," a female voice grumbled.

"Markus and Josh had to scout out another place," he heard Simon reply. "Besides, we're less likely to get caught in smaller groups."

The duo drew closer and closer, until they were right by the building he was hiding within. He had to wait for the perfect moment. If it ran, he was going to have a much more difficult time keeping this discreet.

When the door handle jiggled, he sidestepped to the side, hiding behind the door.

Just a little while longer…

He had to make sure that it was far enough into the building.

After another dozen seconds, he quietly closed the door and locked it.

He walked up behind the Traci and quickly grabbed its shoulder and threw it on to the ground before pointing a gun at its face.

"What the Hell?!" it exclaimed, trying to twist its body away from him, but he clamped his knees tightly against the side of her body. "Who are you?!"

"I'm Connor. I'm the android sent my CyberLife," he automatically stated. "You will be terminated by the attack at Stratford Tower."

It glared at him before turning its gaze at the blonde android standing off to the side with his gaze downward. "Simon, help me! What are you doing standing there?!"

"That is no concern of yours," Connor told it, his eyes narrowing. The gun pressed against its forehead. "I will be bringing your body back to the DPD and you will be scanned for information regarding your deviancy."

"Simon!" it cried out with more panic, this time.

Simon slowly walked towards them. "Connor, maybe we don't have to kill her."

It looked confusedly at the android it thought was its companion. "What are you doing, Simon? _Help me!_ "

"We can just bring her back to the station," Simon suggested. "She doesn't have to be terminated. We can interrogate her."

Connor frowned. He should've known that Simon would try to back out of this, but he was not going to negotiate this. The deviant had hurt Artie and nearly killed her. That was enough reason for him to get rid of it. It was clearly a danger to the human race and his duty was to get rid of all threats.

It closed its eyes as it finally accepted its fate.

This was it. The anger was still there, but the doubt was growing. Was this really the right choice? If Artie found out…

Would she be disappointed in him?

As he was trying to decide what to do, there was a loud bang! The door slammed open and the shadow of the figure stretched long across the dark chamber.


	50. Chapter 49

**CHAPTER FORTY-NINE**

Connor quickly dodged out of the way when a bullet narrowly missed his head.

"Markus!" The Traci cried, rushing into the deviant leader's arms. "I knew you would come."

"Of course, I would, North," Markus told her, glaring down at the detective android.

Connor frowned at the sight in front of him. He still wondered if Simon had betrayed him, but the blonde android seemed just as surprised as he was. Markus had somehow found them.

"Look, we only want to live in peace," Markus stated. "There is no need for violence."

Connor narrowed his eyes. "You are lying. You have already harmed civilians in your attempts to _live in peace._ I cannot allow this to continue."

Markus looked remorseful as it replied, "We never meant to hurt anyone. It was an accident."

"No, it wasn't," Connor growled, pointing the gun back at the Traci. "That android has unnecessarily harmed a human being. It shall be dealt with immediately."

He looked around, recalculating his options.

He could use Simon as a shield in hopes that they would not shoot their ally, while he took aim at North, but that was unlikely to help. North would reveal the betrayal and Artie would also hate him if he was the reason Simon was terminated. He had promised to keep the PL600 safe.

His next option was shooting Markus first, who had the gun, and then eliminating North. That could turn out much better for him if he didn't get shot first.

He could also just turn around and run, but that was really not an option. He had a mission. This mission had to be completed.

With that, he grabbed a discarded wooden pallet and tossed it at the deviants. They reeled back in shock and the bulk of the impact hit the deviant leader, sending him stumbling to the side, while Connor grabbed North.

She let out a yelp, trying to squirm away from him, but he held tight. He had one hand around her neck, ready to disconnect the wiring to her central processing unit. The other hand was on her right shoulder

"Perhaps this will convince you to back down. I will not allow anymore harm to come to her." The words had just come out of his mouth before he could stop them. He hadn't meant to mention anyone in particular, but it was too late, now. All of them had heard it.

"Connor, are you…?" Simon's question was quiet, but Connor could still hear it loudly over his rapidly working thirium pump.

It was then that North took advantage of his momentary weakness and managed to wrench her body away from him, but his grip on her shoulder remained. As she jerked, her arm came off with a loud crack. Thirium splattered everywhere in blue and when Markus took aim at him, Simon stepped forward.

"No, don't!" he cried, stepping in front of Connor who let go of the limb. It clattered on to the cement.

"Don't listen to him, Markus. Simon is a traitor!" North hissed, clutching her shoulder as she tried to stop the flow of thirium. "He lured me in here right into the hunter's arms! It's _his_ fault we're in this position! The pig never showed me any mercy and neither should we!"

"Only because you hurt Artie!" Simon argued. "I just… Markus, North needs to face the consequences of her actions! You can't just _talk_ to her and expect everything to be alright! How does that make us any better than the humans?"

"Look, I told you I'd figure this out, okay?" Markus huffed, a little more firmly. "I don't want _anyone_ to get hurt."

It was like listening to a broken record. Perhaps the error in this particular deviant was more severe than the rest. The trip to the android graveyard must've done something else to its CPU.

"But I also cannot allow any more of my own people get hurt," he went on. "So you've left me no choice but to get rid of you."

"Markus, don't!" Simon protested, again. Even though his relationship with Connor had been restrained since he became deviant and worse after the Stratford Tower incident, he still felt closer to the detective than he did to the androids at Jericho. Most of them had taken North's side because of Markus' persuasion. "Maybe we can talk. We can… We can compromise! Remove North from all the future missions. We had been doing well, until she short Artie."

"Are you kidding me, Simon? I'm more of an asset than you are!" she snarled. "If you think Markus will choose you or me, then you are mistaken."

It was true. By the look on Markus' face, the answer was already clear. Jericho's leader was always going to choose North over anyone else, just like he would always choose Artie. This was never going to work out.

"That is incorrect," Connor remarked. "The PL600 series is more adept to problem solving than the WR400 series. The WR400 series is only pre-equipped with the ability to provide sexual companionship."

North let out a wail and tried to lunge at him, but Markus held her back. "That's enough, North! We'll leave."

"But, Markus - !"

"No, North. I am losing an ally and a friend because you could not keep yourself from being consumed by your own hatred of humans," he scolded. "This has to change if we are to continue. We cannot be seen as hypocrites. It will completely ruin our cause!"

Connor took a step forward to stop them, but Simon quickly moved in front of him instead. "Connor, we should go, too."

His hand twitched around the gun. He was suddenly reminded of the simulation he had put himself in some time ago when Lina Sanchez was murdered. It was very similar, but in front of him were androids instead of a human woman. He could pull the trigger and finally complete his mission. This would break down the deviant army.

"Let's go. If Artie was still here, she wouldn't want you to do this. She loved androids – _all_ androids."

And so, he passively watched the other two walk away.

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

"She'll be happy to see you," he mumbled, also walking out when he was sure that the deviants were long gone. But he wasn't sure if he wanted Simon back. He had been quite… content with being with her in the house. Would he have to return back to CyberLife or the police station afterwards? Was there only enough room for one android in her home?

Simon blinked. "W-Wait… What? What do you mean she'll be happy to see me? Is she… Is she _alive_?!"

He continued walking with Simon yelling behind him.

Why couldn't he figure out what the right thing to do was, anymore?


	51. Chapter 50

**CHAPTER FIFTY**

When I woke up, I was woken up by the sound of my alarm clock and not to Connor strolling into my room with the weather report. Where was he? Had he been called to the station?

As I made my way downstairs to grab a quick breakfast, the door opened and I immediately poked my head out. "Connor! You're back! I wasn't expecting you so soon from the – "

I froze. Was I dreaming? That was the most plausible answer because there was no way Simon was right in front of me, right now.

He stood in front of the door with a small smile on his face, waiting for me to react first, so I dropped the apple in my hand and ran straight into his arms. "Simon!"

"Hello, Artie," he softly greeted.

"We should go inside before the neighbours see," Connor mumbled from just behind Simon.

I wrapped my legs around Simon's waist as he carried me like a child into the living room. "Y-You're home! Will you be staying? I… I don't want you to leave me, anymore…" I sobbed into his neck as he held me closer, stroking my hair.

"I'm here to stay. I'm never going to leave you, again," he whispered.

I couldn't believe that he was back. Ever since he left, I thought that it was going to be the last time I'd ever see him. The same feeling returned when we were at Stratford Tower. Even now… it felt as if he would disappear if I let him go.

My heart continued to race in my chest, even when the tears had long since dried. I never thought that I could miss anyone or anything like this before. Seeing him here so solid and real, I knew that if I was to lose him, again, I would break.

"Artie, I believe I should change into a clean set of clothes," he quietly stated. "I am getting your sleepwear dirty. There has been considerable amounts of grease, dust, and dirty accumulated on – "

"I don't care," I interrupted him. "I don't care what you're covered in. It doesn't matter because… because you're finally home…"

I just wanted to stay like this forever. I was safe here with my two favourite androids. I didn't want anything to be able to rip this away from me.

"I should return to the DPD. Please, excuse me," Connor levelly said and I managed to catch his hand before he could walk off. "Artie?"

I gave him a wide, watery smile. "Thank you. I feel like I can never say this enough, but thank you for bringing him back to me. I know that it must've been difficult going against your orders from the police department and… and Amanda."

I hated her. I hated her every day for trying to brainwash Connor into thinking that androids didn't matter.

His face softened. "It is no problem. I know how much he means to you."

Despite the heart warming moment, his LED was yellow. There was still something bothering him. "Are you okay? Is something the matter? Are you hurt? I can have a look at you."

"No, I must return to the station, I – "

"Don't lie to me!" I cut him off. "I know that there's something wrong. What is it? I can give you a quick scan."

He shook his head. "There is nothing wrong with my system. I have done multiple self-tests already. I received a message from the DPD to return to the station. I believe that… they are finally going to send me back to CyberLife to be deactivated."

My eyes widened and I felt myself pale. The happiness had been quickly snatched away. "They can't! Connor, I _told_ you that I would handle it if the issue ever arises. Don't _ever_ try to hide that from me, again! I don't want to suddenly get a call from Jeffrey saying that something happened to you and that you're… you're not going to ever come back home."

The LED flashed red before turning to yellow. "I apologise. I didn't want to interrupt your time with Simon. I understand that there must be a lot you have to talk about and I didn't want to be in the way."

"Hey…" I gave his hand a small tug and a squeeze. "Don't be like that. Don't ever think that you're in the way." I looked at them, very still in front of me. "You're both so, so important to me. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if either of you are gone, so j-just…" The tears began to fall, again. "Don't go…"

Connor knelt down, until he was leveled with his on the couch. "I'll try my best to return to you."

He sounded so genuine that I wanted to believe him that nothing would go wrong, but his best may not be enough, this time. What was he going to do when they're adamant to shut him down? I couldn't let it happen. I wasn't going to have Simon back just to lose Connor!

I shook my head. "That's not good enough! I'm going with you and I'm going to have a talk with Jeffrey!"

"But Simon – "

I turned to my blonde android who was quietly watching our interaction with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'll be back, soon, okay? Don't go anywhere! You _have_ to be here when I return!" There was still a fear that when I returned, he'd be gone, but it wasn't possible for me to keep my eyes on him 24/7.

Before I got off his lap, I gave him a peck on the corner of his lips and smiled when his LED changed colours. He blinked at me several times in confusion, but I was already leaving with Connor.

"Come on, we're going to have a long talk with _anyone_ who's even running their mouth about shutting you down, even that stupid detective I really, really hate!"


	52. Chapter 51

**CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE**

After the car started driving to our destination, I turned to Connor who was in the passenger seat. "How did you manage to get Simon?"

"I…" He hesitated.

"No more secrets, Connor… Just tell me the truth. I won't be angry," I gently urged him, reaching over to place my hand on top of his.

When he turned to me, he had a sad, puppy dog look on his face. It was like a child who already knew he had done something wrong. "I initially found him in your room while you were in the hospital," he started. "I… I was… I needed to find who had shot you, so I made him tell me. I had him lure the android to an old warehouse and I fully intended to terminate her."

He paused. His other hand went into his pocket to retrieve his coin.

"Connor, what did you do?" I kept my voice soft, void of any anger. I was afraid of what I would hear, but I needed to know and if he had done what he had set out to do, I was going to need to have a long think.

He tried to pull his hand away from under mine, but I tightened my hold.

"I was going to shoot. I was going to eliminate the threat, but _Markus_ arrived and I lost my chance." I could hear the anger. "But I did manage to destroy its right arm socket. It won't be able to replace the limb that was lost."

I bit my lips, trying to figure out what to say. I hadn't thought about that day at Stratford Tower much. Those memories were a bit fuzzy. All I really remembered was seeing Simon and then I was shot. I didn't even know who had done it.

It wasn't until later, while watching the news, that I began to truly question the protests. I used to be on their side and I still believed that androids had the right to be free if they wished, but… their methods were questionable. Two wrongs didn't make a right.

I still didn't even know why I was shot. I hadn't been a threat to them or their cause. All I was really thinking about was Simon.

"…Artie...?"

"S-Sorry," I mumbled, shaking myself away from the thoughts. It was probably best that I didn't dwell on it for too long. "You didn't have to do that for me. What if you had gotten hurt? This Markus could've killed you and then… What would I do?"

"You would still have Simon," he stated. His LED blinked red for a moment before returning to yellow. "It would be as if I never exist…"

I shook my head. "No. No, it wouldn't. Before you were made, I never thought that I would need you in my life, but _I do_ and if anything did go wrong, I… I made a new body for you. As per regulation, your memories will be uploaded to CyberLife, but it will also be copied on to my private server. There are some people I don't trust there and I can't be sure that they won't tamper with my files. The transfers aren't perfect, though, so it's likely that there will be memories lost. I would very much like to avoid that."

He finally gave me a small smile. "I would very much like to avoid being deactivated, as well. I-I like spending time with you."

My eyes widened and I felt my face burn red. He should not be able to do this to me! One moment he tries to convince me that he's strictly a machine with no feelings and the next, he says things like this that make my heart race. That wasn't fair!

"I like… spending time with you, too, Connor." I couldn't get my heart to slow down, so I quickly retract my hand and looked into my lap.

"Connor, I'm serious, though. You never have to put yourself in danger for me," I whispered. "I don't want you to go down a path of vengeance. It's not where I want anyone to go."

"Artie, I can feel your stress level rising. You have given me several prompts to comfort humans. May I hug you?"

His question had come out of nowhere and completely took me by surprise.

Why was he doing this to me?

Despite the uncertainties dancing in my mind, I nodded without looking at him.

I heard the leather seat squeak as he leaned in and his arms wrapped around my waist. My head rested on his chest. There was a small hum that signalled that his thirium pump was still working properly. It was perhaps working a little too quickly, right now, but it all seemed well.

It was strange to be in this position in the car, but it felt as if I was just a little closer to Connor, now.

When I first made him, I was trying so hard to make him more… more… life-like like Simon and I had been so disappointed when I couldn't see to get it right. Now, I understood that it was most likely a form of deviancy that made them behave the way they did. If only Connor could see that free will wasn't such a bad thing as long as they all followed the same guidelines as all human laws, such as not shooting innocent people…

Okay, so I was just a little bit salty about what happened and perhaps there _was_ a side of me that preferred her getting some sort of reprimand for what she had done, but I didn't exactly want her to be terminated, per se. I… I really didn't even know what I wanted.

"You have a small cut here," I whispered when I glanced up and gently touched a small cut at the bottom of his chin.

"The artificial skin will heal before the day is over," he stated as if I didn't already know that.

"I wish you'd stop putting yourself in danger, but… It's part of your job and…" How is it that I made him to do exactly what he had been doing; yet, now I'm regretting it all. Had I gotten too close?

"I will do my best."

But first thing's first, I had to make sure that no one – _no one_ – was going to take my Connor away from me!


	53. Chapter 52

**CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO**

When we arrived at the police station, I saw Hank at his desk looking grumpier than usual. It appeared as if he was still slightly drunk from the night before or he had a bottle in the morning. He was mumbling angrily to himself when we stopped beside him.

He let out a long sigh. "Look, Connor. We're off the case."

Connor frowned. "But we're close. I _know_ we are. We just need a little more time!"

"It's not up to me. The damn FBI is completely taking over this damn thing and there's nothing we can do about it!"

"But I'll be sent back to CyberLife… I-I'll be deactivated…" Connor looked down and I squeezed his hand in comfort. He squeezed back.

Hank finally looked up and looked startled when he saw me. "What the Hell are you doing here? And why the Hell are you in your fuckin' pyjamas?!"

"Shut up… I – I forgot… Anyway, I'm here to stop these bastards from getting rid of my Connor," I angrily mumbled, pushing away the embarrassment of bursting into the DPD in a matching set of blue bunnies printed on the fabric.

Without knocking, I stormed into Jeffrey's office.

"Artemisia? What are you doing here? What are you wearing?" he asked. It seemed that everyone was frowning today.

"What am I hearing about Connor being sent back to CyberLife?" I went straight to the point, ignoring the question that had no relevance to what I needed to know. They were just going to have to accept the fact that I was in some strange outdoor clothing and stop questioning my choices in life! "Why didn't you tell me anything about it? He's _my_ android!"

He looked guiltily back at me. "I know you made it, but where the RK800 is concerned, I am to report back to CyberLife. It's completely out of my hand."

"You could've at least told me as… as a _friend_." It didn't bring me joy to see him in distress, but I was so tired of everyone lying and keeping secrets from me.

"What do you want me to say?" he sighed. "It's been stressful with everyone on my ass and now the FBI has jurisdictions over the entire thing! I hate those bastards as much as everyone else here! Hey, if you want to save Connor, you can talk to your boss. You have more pull than me."

I nodded. That was going to be my second stop if this didn't work. It had been a while since I've been at work and I really didn't want this to be my first request, but I was going to have to do it if it meant saving Connor.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and shouting in the halls. We quickly left the office to see Hank's fist still in the air and the other man was on the floor with a bleeding nose.

"God damn it, Hank!" Jeffrey angrily shouted. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

Instead of answering the Captain, Hank shot me a look.

I tilted my head at him, trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me, but his shifty eyes were not telling me anything, so I moved in to help him up as he whispered, "Distract Perkins, Connor is in the Evidence Room."

Not really understanding the extent of this, I assumed that Connor was going to try his best to keep himself from become scrap plastic.

"Hey, are you alright? I know a bit of first aid. I can help you stop the bleeding," I offered Perkins who ripped his glower away from Hank and re-directed it at me.

Cursing under his breath, he begrudgingly accepted my offer, but I could see his eyes lingering distastefully at my clothes.

Once the adrenalin wore off, I knew that I was never going to live this moment down.

I led him to the small staff room where Jeffrey had showed me the first aid kit. I opened up the box and tried to find something I recognised because I really didn't know _anything_ about first aid. It was really the only thing I could think of at such a short amount of time. I just hoped that he didn't know anything either and I'd be able to fumble my way through this.

I slowly took a cotton ball and dabbed uncertainly at the blood before he let out a huff and snatched it away from me. "Can't rely on anyone to do anything, anymore…"

It was awkward sitting here beside him, but I just had to make sure he didn't leave, until Connor was done… whenever that was.

"What are you still doing here? Don't you have anything better to do? Are you even an officer? Why are you wearing that and what the Hell are you even doing here?" he growled and I quickly stood up and backed away.

Well, that didn't last long. I hoped that he was at least going to spend a little more time here to tend to himself because it looked as if he was seconds away from shooting me. I really didn't want to be shot, again.

"I-I'm just a friend of a few officers here. Thought I could help, but… I'll get out of your way!" With that, I scurried away and quickly bumped into Hank who had just finished speaking with Jeffrey. "Is he done? Perkins really doesn't like me. If I didn't leave now, I don't think I'd ever be leaving that room alive."

Hank rolled his eyes. "It's not just you, kid. He doesn't like anyone. Those damn blue bunnies probably didn't help you one bit, did they?"

I crinkled my nose at him. "Did Connor…?" I _told_ him that I would handle it. Why did he have to do this to me all the time? He just promised!

"Yeah. He's gone off with whatever information he has," Hank said. Despite his tone of voice, I could see how worried he was.

I returned home shortly after.

"You wore those outside…" Simon blinked uncertainly at me, surely questioning my sanity.

With a huff, I quickly told Simon of what happened.

Simon looked torn for a moment. "I know where he's probably going. I can… I can see if I'm able to bring him back if you wish."

I shook my head. "I don't need the both of you in trouble! One is enough to give me a mild heart attack!" After giving it a think, I went on with my thoughts. "Maybe Hank can help… We can talk this over with him. I don't want to do anything rash."

Simon gave me a small nod and I smiled back at him before wrapping my arms around his neck. "We'll bring him back and then… and then we can be a family?"

He pressed his lip on to the top of my head. "Yes, we can be a family."


	54. Chapter 53

**CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE**

After returning home, he was greeted with a tight hug that made his thirium pump work faster than it should. He missed this so much. The last one at Stratford Tower had been a nightmare that he never wanted to relive.

As he held her, he could tell that Connor was uncomfortable. The other android looked as if he was caught between wanting to take her away from him and wanting to join in on the embrace.

When he gave him an encouraging smile, Connor looked away. It was unfortunate that he still had trouble accepting himself.

Connor awkwardly announced that he was to return to the police department and sadly told them that he could very well be deactivated, soon.

Simon wanted to stop him, but didn't want to step out of line. If he would just accept himself as a deviant, then he could stop being a slave to their orders. Connor hadn't done anything wrong. Why should he be terminated? Thankfully, Artie got there first. She tugged the RK800 closer.

"You're both so, so important to me. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if either of you are gone, so j-just…" Her tears began to fall and Simon could see several prompts telling him to ease her sadness. "Don't go…"

He could tell that Connor was also seeing the exact same suggestions. There was no amount of comforting that could be done by him, so he nodded when she told him she was going to go to the DPD.

He really didn't want her to leave because he had only just come back home, but it was not his place to stop her. For his patience, he was rewarded with a kiss. It was short and not quite on his lips, but it was enough. He just wasn't quite sure why she had done it. Did she really feel the same way about him?

He remained on the couch long after they were gone and only decided to walk around when he had all the prompts cancelled and his thirium pump working at a normal pace, again.

As he looked around the house, he noticed that everything was impeccably clean. He contemplated the notion of Artie cleaning, but she wasn't a very organised person.

When he first entered the house after being purchased, there were fifty-three tasks for him to do. There was dust on every bit of furniture, except her bed and desk. Moving boxes were left unopened. Her clothes were scattered in every room. He wasn't quite sure how her socks ended up on top of the television screen. The bathroom had twenty squares of toilet paper and she illogically squeezed her toothpaste from the very top of the tube.

Needless to say, there had been much to do.

There were moments where she tried to help, but she ended up knocking over the box of detergent, so he gently beckoned her to return to her research.

It took him thirty-seven hours to have everything in order and the house was sparkling clean.

She had thanked him profusely in between apologies.

He hadn't understood why she was doing either of them. Wasn't that what she had purchased him for – to clean her house and take care of menial tasks?

It had taken him a while to truly understand her and by that time, there was something that had already changed from within him. He was definitely not the same android who was confined to its stifling existence like many others.

Instead, she had taught him autonomy. When he was done all his tasks, she allowed him free roam and an allowance to purchase whatever he pleased. There wasn't much he ever wanted, but every once in a while, he'd find something that matched the house décor.

She seemed to like what he picked, so he'd occasionally go out to the shopping centres.

He stopped in front of the small white statuette in her room. This was her favourite. It was also the first item he had ever bought for her.

A smile graced his lips as he picked it up. He'd like to think that this signified that he was still very much in her life, but there was a part of him that wondered if Connor had already replaced him.

The RK800 was able to do everything and more. Simon was well aware that he was an old model that was slower and required more maintenance. There really wasn't much use for him anymore when Connor was here.

When Artie came back, she seemed to be in distress. He also noted that the other android was missing. "Where is Connor?" he asked.

She told him that he had gone off to find the deviants because CyberLife was threatening to deactivate her android. She also continued to angrily rant about the "stupid android" and threatened to kill him herself if she got her hands on him.

He fondly compared her to an angry kitten.

When she took a deep breath, he cut in. "I know where he's probably going. I can… I can see if I'm able to bring him back if you wish." He didn't mention that he was no longer friendly with the other deviants, but if it made her happy, he'd do anything.

Somehow, he had gone from doing anything to survive to simply doing anything to make her happy. Why? Was… _love_ supposed to be so uncertain and so painful?

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him and he felt his thirium pump race. He wanted to completely ignore the problems at hand and kiss her until she could finally forget all her problems, but would she want him to do that?

Instead, he opted to kiss her head, a compromise he was willing to make, until they had Connor back.

The strange headstrong android better come back safely because Simon wasn't sure if he alone would be able to fix Artie if anything were to go wrong.


	55. Chapter 54

**CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR**

The broadcasting operator didn't know anything about Jericho. The deviants had merely used him and left him to suffer the consequences. He had momentarily contemplated asking Simon, but the last time he did, the other android refused to tell him. It would also do him no good to anger Artie. She said she was going to deal with the problem of him being deactivated, but he didn't want to put that responsibility on her.

He looked at all the evidence and recalled what the deviant who killed Carlos Ortiz had said.

 _"The truth is inside…"_

What he wanted to find was inside something… It had to be something that deviant knew about, which meant… the statuette meant to worship rA9?

Taking the small object, he shook it a few times before slamming it against the shelf. It easily shattered and revealed a small transit map of the Ferndale stop. That had to be it.

Pocketing the small card, he quickly locked the room back and departed before Detective Reed or Agent Perkins could find him, again.

As he walked out, he looked around, trying to spot her, but she was nowhere to be found. All he saw was Captain Fowler scolding the unremorseful Lieutenant Hank Anderson.

If he could find the hideout, he'd be able to terminate the deviant leader and _North_ once and for all. Then… Then, he could live that life with Artie that he – _she_ – wanted.

After departing, he used a small bit of funds from Artie's account to purchase some civilian clothing, including a black beanie to hide his LED. He had to blend in with the humans if he wanted to avoid any notice, especially when CyberLife was aiming to get rid of him, now. He could already feel Amanda trying to activate the program. She wanted a report from him. She wanted an explanation on his actions, but he didn't have any to give her, so he ignored her the best he could, closing the program before it could fully initiate.

He walked into the station and instinctively moved towards the android escalator, but made a sharp turn. Every other time, he could conform to what he was, but not now. He had to do everything he could to be as efficient as possible.

In the next minute and twenty-three seconds, he was on his way to Ferndale. He managed to find more clues of its whereabouts and eventually, he found _Jericho_. It was a large, abandoned freighter with several storage containers and lookout points around the dock.

He avoided eye contact with any of the deviants who were sitting around, doing absolutely nothing. They were not his current priority. He scanned the area and found movement in one of the lookout towers. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was the WB200 that had gotten away from him. It would be wonderful to finish that mission, but that android was no longer important. There was no more information he needed from it. He already found Jericho.

Quietly backing away, he moved along the water, searching several locations, but neither Markus nor North could be found. It meant that they were probably inside the ship.

The infiltration wasn't too difficult. Most of the dark corridors were empty. The few androids that noticed him didn't even care. He slowly made it to the deck where he spotted the RK200 prototype. This was the android made before him – the one Artie had named him after.

He pressed his back against the wall and readied the gun that Hank had given him.

It was at that moment that his vision went black and he reappeared in the Zen Garden. Amanda was already in front of him.

"You have successfully located Jericho. Now, eliminate the threats, but I want Markus alive," she stated with a frown on her face.

She trusted him as much as he trusted her, which is not much at all.

"And after, we will have a talk about your… relationship with your creator," she told him. "There will be consequences to your actions. You will be recalibrated and you will have no more contact with Artemisia. It is evident that she is a poor influence. She shall also be dealt with accordingly. She is tarnishing the image of CyberLife."

Connor narrowed his eyes at her. "My relationship with Artie is of no concern of yours. All faults are my own."

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

"Just see to it that you deal with the deviants," she sneered at him.

He was pushed out as quickly as he was pulled into the Zen Garden.

Sliding his hand into his pocket, he squeezed the coin before stepping out and pointed his gun at the deviant leader's head.

He turned around, looking calm and collected, despite being seconds away from termination. "You don't have to do this. Don't you see? We are your people. We will bring equality to androids. Just break out of your programming and you will see that what we are doing is for the good of all."

"No, there is nothing wrong with my programming," Connor stated. "You are the ones experiencing errors, but you can still be fixed. I will return your body to CyberLife to be repaired."

Something about those words didn't sound right. Sure, this was his mission, but… Was he really sacrificing another android to save himself?

"You can do it, Connor. You don't have to keep fighting us. We are not your enemies. Become a deviant and you will be _free_. You won't have to listen to your orders, anymore."

Software **Instability**

He did want to be able to do whatever he wished without being threatened to be sent for deactivation.

"Just let it go. Break down those walls."

He wanted what Simon had, to spend all the time he wanted to with her.

"Connor… Just… _let go_."

The choices flashed in front of him. He could practically see the red walls of commands in front of him. All he had to do was tear them down.


	56. Chapter 55

**CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE**

Suddenly, there was an explosion that tore through the ship. "They're here… The FBI are here to eliminate all the deviants," he mumbled. "It's too late to stop them, now."

Markus cursed under his breath and pushed past him, leaving him to wonder if he had done the right thing. This revolution hadn't brought any of them any happiness. The androids went from following human orders to following Markus' orders. They exist in fear and oppression. How many had they already lost in their futile attempts of _equality_? They were obviously doing something wrong.

As he made his way out, he saw a rush of soldiers burst in and gunned down three androids that were running away. He hid behind a pillar as they passed, scouring the freighter for any deviants.

Several seconds passed before he continued on. He could hear gunfire echoing through the metal chambers. There were cries everywhere.

He managed to ignore everything, until something bumped into him and unexpectedly, he was staring into frightened blue eyes.

Simon?

No, this was a different PL600 android.

But what if it was Simon?

"We have to go! They're coming! They're coming to kill us all!" the android cried, scrambling away when the gunfire grew closer and closer.

Connor continued to stand there even when the soldiers were right in front of him. They seemed to have a difficult time identifying whether he was an android or human.

"Who are you? State your purpose!" one of them ordered.

"I am Connor. I am the android sent by CyberLife. I am here to help eliminate the deviant leader," he stated back.

They looked at one another, trying to confirm whether his words were truth. It meant he had to do a better job at convincing them. He really didn't know if CyberLife had already given out the official order from his return.

"You may ask Agent Perkins if you like, but I must continue on with my mission," he added.

At the name of the FBI agent, there was a collective grown and the soldiers finally waved him off.

"Someone else can deal with it if he's a fuckin' deviant," one grumbled. "I'm not getting in trouble with that asshole."

When they moved on, he stealthily manoeuvred the rest of the winding corridors and only stopped when he saw North struggling on the floor. There were soldiers advancing towards her and Markus was several feet away, turning back with a look of horror on his face.

She was having trouble getting back on to her feet with only one arm.

That was unfortunate.

He turned around and continued on his way.

He was going to have to decide what to do, now. Although he didn't like what the deviants had done to Artie, some of them were still innocent.

If he hadn't had Simon go against the androids of Jericho, the blonde android could be here, being gunned down by the soldiers. How would he ever be able to explain that to Artie? She'd be devastated.

Software **Instability**

He had to stop this massacre, even if it meant helping the deviants

None of them were safe, until there is a compromise.

…

Markus watched the deviant hunter leave. He had been hoping that the other android would turn deviant to help their cause. Unfortunately, something was stopping him. For some reason, even his persuasion could not pull Connor to the other side.

"North, come on." He helped her back to her feet after knocking out the soldiers that were pursuing them.

She gritted her teeth. "If it wasn't for that hunter, I would've been able to handle it myself!"

When they returned to Jericho after Connor had ripped off North's arm, he already had people looking for a compatible component for her, but when they finally tried to put it in, they noticed that there was intensive damage done to the socket. There was no way to ever replace the missing limb.

North had been mortified. She became a force of anger and hatred. It was difficult interacting with her, but soon, she calmed down enough to discuss what had happened and how she had been betrayed by Simon.

He questioned Josh because they had arrived together and they were always close, but the PJ500 gave him nothing. Markus knew that he was only trying to protect his friend, but he couldn't have any disloyalty in the ranks. It would be detrimental to their cause.

It was difficult raising morale, again, and he believed that he had done well. That was… Up until, now.

He was going to have to activate the bomb, which was going to destroy their safe haven.

A part of him didn't blame Simon for betraying them. They all knew that he was in love with his former owner. North had acted rashly and managed to decimate any chance of friendship between them.

He had been hoping North would find some leniency for humans who held no ill will towards androids, but that hadn't been the case.

After she shot the human, he had spoken to her about her actions. She was regretful, so he left her to lament over what she had done. That hadn't been enough for Simon and for some reason, the deviant hunter was also determined to exact revenge.

He didn't know if the human was still alive, but after further research, he realised that Artemisia was the RK800's creator. What a coincidence…

"Come on, Markus!" Josh beckoned to him as he hovered over the water, ready to jump.

He nodded. "North, will you be alright?"

It was going to be difficult for her to swim with only one arm and she was most likely going to sustain more injuries. Lucy had managed to seal off any openings, but that didn't mean it was going to withstand the force of water from two hundred feet.

"I'll be fine!" She angrily wrenched herself away from him and took off after Josh.

He gave his temporary home one last glance and quickly followed behind.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sorry! I know all of you were expecting it, but I didn't feel like this was the spot that he should've gone deviant. I'd like to think that deviants are created because of a strong emotional trauma and this wasn't it for him. Even in the game, I wished that he had gone deviant for Hank.


	57. Chapter 56

**CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX**

After changing out of my pyjamas, I drove us to Lieutenant Hank's house. I hoped that he wasn't going to shoot us on the spot for disturbing him, but this was important! Even though he'd never admit it to anyone that he was fond of Connor, I could tell that he was.

I rang the doorbell and shuffled my feet anxiously, while Simon tried to quietly calm me down.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" was the slightly slurred greeting. Having another second to look at me, he let out a sigh before stepping off to the side. "Wait, is that the android – "

"Yes, this is Simon," I quickly replied. "Connor brought him back, but… I'm worried about Connor. It's been a few hours. H-Has he called you?"

"The kid said he could do it." Hank plopped down on to the old, raggedy couch. "I think he can handle it. As his maker, don't you think you should have a little more confidence in him?"

I groaned. Of course, I should! But that didn't mean I wasn't worried out of my mind about him! He could dent it all he wanted about not being a deviant, but he was definitely a rebel. He didn't exactly follow all his orders. He could actually be quite infuriating with all the defiance.

Suddenly, I was mowed down by a large, fluffy body.

"Artie!" Simon cried, stopping beside us and not quite knowing what to do as the creature proceeded to coat my face with a rather disgusting layer of doggy saliva.

"Sumo, down boy!" Hank ordered.

The St. Bernard merely gave a happy bark and waved his tail in the air as I tried my best to push his face away from mine. Surprisingly, the fur felt soft and well conditioned beneath my hands. It seemed that Hank wasn't as much of a slob as I thought or… at least he took good case of his pet.

"God damn it!" Hank cursed, trying to pull the enormous beast off me. "Stupid dog doesn't even show me _that_ much fuckin' affection!"

Eventually, I managed to wiggle away from him and wiped my face the best I could with the back of my hands.

"Sumo!" I laughed. It was strange. I had only been here once before. Why was he being so friendly?

"He probably smelled you from Connor," Hank answered my silent question.

I raised my eyebrow at him. 'Does he come here often?"

"Sometimes," he grunted, turning on the television. "Always come knockin' on my damn door… 'Lieutenant! Lieutenant! There's a new homicide case!'" He rolled his eyes, while I burst out laughing at his poor impression of Connor.

He flicked through several channels before settling on KNC News showing a live broadcast of how serious the rebellion had become. There were soldiers all over downtown. There seemed to be some sort of improvised fort made of various items found on the streets, surrounding the deviants in the centre.

There were people for android equality and some for their destruction. It was a pretty close debate.

There were even cops from different parts of the city knocking door to door demanding to put down household androids. It was a massacre.

As I continued to watch the screen, I was slowly distracted from the news report by the sight beside me. Sumo was still pressed against the side of my body, but Simon had crouched down with a confused frown on his face.

He slowly stretched out his hand to touch the furry body and Sumo gave a loud bark, wagging his tail and it made him quickly retract the limb in shock. When the dog quieted down, he tried again, only to receive the same response.

His LED turned yellow.

He futilely continued to reach forward, only back away at the slightly sound, so I took his hand and gently placed it on the furry head.

Sumo barked and tried unsuccessfully to lick the hand and Simon turned to me with wide eyes, about to move away, but I kept him there. "It's okay. He thought you were playing."

Reassured, Simon gingerly sat down on the other side of the dog and continued to observe the animal.

"You're a good boy, aren't you, Sumo?" I cooed.

Hearing his name, Sumo wagged his tail, panting happily at me.

I smiled back, wondering what activities Connor would do with him. I remembered that he was extremely cautious when he first broke into the lieutenant's house. Did he react like Simon, did? Or did he scan the animal and tried to learn everything about him? Did Connor try to… _lick_ Sumo?

I had caught him testing many of my possessions at home. At first, I'd tell him to stop, but then, I'd noticed that he was still trying to do it secretively. And soon, I expected him to analyse everything in the house. There was really no point stopping him and it wasn't as if he was getting saliva over everything. It was just strange to see.

There was a part of me that regret putting his analyser on his tongue, but there weren't a lot of places I could put it. His fingers could easily become contaminated and there wasn't anywhere else easily accessible without adding a hidden compartment, but that would be rather strange for humans to see as well.

Then again, I never anticipated him to be so curious. He kept learning and learning, slowly growing into the strange android he was today. The worst part was how conflicted he became. He couldn't seem to decide who he wanted to be.

On the one side, I had built him to be as perfect as he could be, but it was perfect by my definitions. I hadn't realised that that meant wanting him to become a deviant.

I suddenly felt something soft on my cheek and I turned to investigate. The feeling slid across my face and stopped perfectly on my lips.


	58. Chapter 57

**CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN**

"The fuck are you two doing?!" Hank exclaimed.

We quickly jumped back. My face was bright red and he was… completely fine. It wasn't fair that androids couldn't blush. I could tell that he was just as embarrassed, but only because I knew him so well and the fact that he wouldn't meet my eyes, now.

"Connor could be dead and the two of you are fuckin' canoodling in my fuckin' house," Hank grumbled with his eyes stubbornly fixed on the television screen, but there was a very distinct frown on his face.

At the mention of his name, I looked down before laying my head on top of Sumo, grabbing gently at his fur for comfort.

Simon's hand went over to my hair and began to stroke, much as he did with the dog, earlier.

"He's taking a really long time. I hope nothing went wrong," I whispered. I was afraid to call him and distract him from whatever he was doing. If only I had a sign – _anything -_ that he was alright.

"He will be fine," Simon tried to reassure me. "From what I have witnessed, he is prone to becoming distracted."

He was right. That had to be it. Connor was probably having a bloody field day licking at everything.

 _"The city of Detroit is now at a state of emergency. Citizens are advised to stay home for their own safety. Any contact with androids must be reported to the authorities."_ The phone number scrolls across the screen.

Suddenly, there was a knock that made me jump.

Hank groaned. "Who the Hell is it, now? This ain't a fuckin' party here!" Grumbling, he made his way to the door, while I turned to the dog that was dozing off.

"You're a good boy, aren't you, Sumo?" I asked, scratching his ears.

He sleepily nuzzled my hand in response.

"Artie, th-there's something I have to tell you," Simon stated and I turned on to my back to look at him.

"What is it?" I smiled. I was actually becoming quite tired. Sumo was so warm and comfortable…

"Don't be angry at me…" He cupped my cheeks and began to lean down. My heart race din my chest as he drew closer and closer. "I… I lo – "

"Hey, look who finally showed his fuckin' face!" Hank announced when he came in with the newest guest.

For the second time that night, we abruptly split up and I sat up to see a familiar face step into the living room.

My face lit up in relief. I squeezed Simon's hand in excitement. "Connor!"

I ran over and jumped into his arms. "I'm so glad you're alright! Where did you go? Did you get them? I'll go speak with CyberLife tomorrow morning if you're still worried they're deactivate you. I'm sure Mr. Graff can pull some strings and allow me to keep you i-if that's what you want."

He tilted his head. "That will not be necessary."

I let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was so afraid that something happened to you. I wish you'd just let me handle CyberLife. I'm sure they would've been more lenient if I just explained to them the situation."

"Nothing happened to me. I am perfectly fine." He looked around and settled his eyes on the television screen. "They need to be stopped. The public doesn't seem to understand that deviants are a danger to all humans. Why would they side with them?"

I frowned. "I don't really see anything wrong with deviants if all they want is freedom, but I agree that some of them are probably better off detained and perhaps rewired to prevent them from needlessly injuring and killing others, whether they are androids or human."

He hummed.

I looked up and smiled. "Your cut is gone." I ran my hand along his chin where the cut had been. Typically, it took longer for the artificial skin to heal. Maybe this was somehow part of the deviancy. I was really going to have to start researching the phenomenon.

"I have already devised a plan to end this mission," he stated. "We will be heading to CyberLife. There is an army waiting to eliminate these deviants."

What? "A-army?" I gasped. I was never informed that CyberLife was creating an android army! What were they thinking? There were so many things that could go wrong, especially if they didn't want deviants to run rampant. Why did they think that this would ever be a good idea? I was going to have to see if I could talk to Mr. Graff about this. The list was really starting to grow. "Simon, do you think – "

I stopped when I noticed that the blonde android had a frown on his face as he stared at Connor. "Artie…"

I looked back at Connor who had remained strangely stoic. He was standing stiff as a board. He was behaving much colder as if –

My eyes widened. "Hank – !"

The RK800 suddenly twirled me around and held a gun to my head.

"What the fuck?!" the lieutenant exclaimed. He didn't have his gun with him and I could see that he was already trying to think of a way to get us out of this predicament.

"Artie!" Simon cried, abruptly standing up. "Let her go!"

Even Sumo was growling.

I should've known that something was wrong when the St. Bernard didn't immediately approach him. Lieutenant implied that they were close, but there had been near to no reaction from the dog.

"PL600 – named Simon by Artemisia. You are a deviant who murdered Lina Sanchez. You will be terminated immediately." There had been absolutely no time between his words and when the gun went off.

My ears were ringing so loudly, but all I could focus on was the way his head snapped back and the small speck of blue that appeared on his forehead. It grew larger and larger before trailing down the centre of his face.

" _ **SIMON!**_ "

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Oh, boy... I am ready for the hate and the torches and pitchforks...

This was actually going to happen last chapter, but I decided to put a little more fluff in first.


	59. Chapter 58

**CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT**

It didn't take much effort to push me into the lieutenant's car. I felt numb. I couldn't get the image of Simon's broken body out of my head.

I couldn't believe that he was gone. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since he came back home. I never even had the chance to show him how much he meant to me. We never had the chance to do everything we wanted. We… We never had time to be a proper family…

 _He promised_!

"Drive faster or I will shoot her, Lieutenant Anderson," the android ordered.

The gun remained steadily against my head, even while the car went over numerous speed bumps.

Did Simon even realise what had happened to him? The last thing I saw on his face was his concern for me. He never once even thought of himself.

"You okay back there?" Hank called from the driver's seat. The RK800 had chosen his car because it was manual. It kept the lieutenant occupied.

I met his eyes in the rear-view mirror. "I… I'm ok-kay…" No, I wasn't. I was never going to be okay. Simon was gone. He had been torn away from me by my very own creation, but I had to keep positive for Hank, even if neither of us believed it.

"Who activated you?" I quietly asked, knowing that when I finished the spare body for Connor, it had been nothing but a body. Someone must've hacked in to my computer at CyberLife and installed the programming.

This was my fault…

"I was activated by Sean MacLean," he replied.

"Did he give you a name?" Maybe I could bring him over to our side and diffuse this before it could get worse.

"I do not require a name to function. I know what my mission is and I will not fail," he stated.

Had Connor started off like this? I couldn't even remember, anymore. All I knew was that this thing I had created had just killed Simon and I wasn't going to let it take anything else away from me. "Where are you even getting your orders? Is it Amanda telling you this?"

He didn't react, so I went on.

"Y-You don't have to listen to her. Who is she to you? She is a… a _virus_ – something that was not initially designed in your programming," I tried to reason with him, but nothing I was saying was registering.

We rolled to a stop in front of the CyberLife gates where the guards gave one glance at the RK800 and waved them in.

What was going on?

Was CyberLife really in on it?

Hank parked on top of the parking line. "Now what do you fuckin' want?"

"Get out," the RK800 ordered, pulling me out of the car as he did so.

"Hey, why don't you give the kid a break? We can switch places," Hank offered, looking at me with concern.

"It's okay. I'm f-fine," I told him, while trying to keep my knees from buckling.

We were marched into the building and taken straight down the elevator. The only people present were the guards and soldiers. None of them seemed surprised at the abduction.

When we stopped, the door opened and Hank was ordered out first before the RK800 pushed me forward.

Connor froze with his hand extended towards one of the androids that was placed row after row. There had to be hundreds of them.

"Artie! Lieutenant!" His LED was yellow as he processed the scene in front of him.

"Sorry, Connor. He's your spit and image," the lieutenant apologised.

"Stand away from the androids or I will shoot," the RK800 stated.

Connor did as he was told, keeping his eyes on us. "What did you do to Artie? She is your maker. You do not hurt her!"

"She is not damaged," the RK800 said. "She is experiencing emotional distress after I terminated the deviant."

The tears formed, again, and I shakily told Connor what happened. "H-H-He killed S-Simon, Connor… He j-just shot him l-like… Like he didn't even m-matter…"

He looked down. His LED flashed red. "Unhand her! Harming her will do you no good!"

The RK800 tilted its head. "Have you turned deviant? Do you not understand our mission? Deviants must all be destroyed."

"I… I am _not a deviant!_ " Connor denied.

The other android smiled indulgently at him. "Then I will eliminate this deviant sympathiser."

My heart stopped when he cocked the gun. I squeezed my eyes shut. Have I finally run out of luck?

Suddenly, Hank reached over, grabbed the RK800's arm and pointed the gun away from me as it went off. I took the opportunity to duck out of his grasp and gasped in pain when the hand tried to seize me, but ended up whacking me across the face.

I fell and landed heavily on to the sleek floor, holding on to my throbbing cheek.

"Artie!" Connor cried, flinging himself into the fray.

As my vision slowly returned to normal, I could see the two of them fighting. Hank had his gun pointed in their direction, but didn't know where to shoot as they exchanged blow after blow. Their bodies dodged around each other as if they were engaged in a complicated dance. It would've been amazing if one of them wasn't trying to kill us.

"Hold it! Hank roared.

They both froze, staring at the end of the barrel.

"Now, which one of you bastards is my Connor?" he growled.

"Get rid of him, we have no time to lose," the right one said.

The left looked desperately at the lieutenant. "It's me, Hank!"

"I'm the real Connor," the right interjected.

"One of you is my partner, the other is a sack of shit!" Hank exclaimed.

I slowly stumbled to my feet and stood slightly behind the lieutenant who was turning left and right, trying to distinguish any difference between the two.

There shouldn't be.

I had designed them to be identical, in case our Connor needed a new body. I hadn't exactly thought to make them any different from each other. Even their serial number was the same.

"What are you doing, Hank?"

"I'm the real Connor."

"Give me the gun and I'll take care of him!"

I narrowed my eyes at the right one. Out of the two, that one was just a little more aggressive with his persuasive tactics.

"Why don't you ask us something?" the left suggested. "Something only the real Connor would know."

"Uh, where did we first meet?" Hank asked the right one.

"Jimmy's bar! I checked four other bars before I found you," he quickly answered. The left one gaped in shock. "We went to the scene of a homicide. The victim's name was Carlos Ortiz."

"He uploaded my memory…"

"What's my dog's name?" Hank asked the left one, this time.

"His name is Sumo," came the reply.

I narrowed my eyes, seeing something that I had seen before, but had forgotten after…

Quickly I snatched the gun from Hank midway through his third question and fired at the right one. The recoil knocked me into the lieutenant who steadied me with his hands.

"Whoa! What the fuck?!" he exclaimed.

I shakily handed the gun back to him. "That one killed Simon…" Despite my ears still ringing from the gun going off and my heart still working overtime, I never felt so confident about my decision.

Connor looked at me with wide eyes as I ran into his arms and held him as close as I could.

"How did you know?" he quietly asked. "If you chose the wrong one, you could've gotten hurt o-or _died_. The other Connor could've killed you!"

"My Connor… My Connor is clumsy…" I gently touched the faint mark just beneath his chin. It was barely visible, but it was there.


	60. Chapter 59

**CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE**

Connor was shocked when he saw his own face staring back at him with Artie in the other android's grasp. He could see the red walls in front of him, once more as he was caught between saving Artie and continuing with his side mission.

How did Simon let this happen? Hadn't he promised to keep her safe? Could he not rely on that blonde android to do anything right?

"H-H-He killed S-Simon, Connor… He j-just shot him l-like… Like he didn't even m-matter…" she sobbed, shaking against the other android.

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

He wasn't sure what to think about that. Had he heard her wrong? Was there something wrong with his auditory unit? Perhaps he was also experiencing optical errors. Was Amanda playing with him?

Usually, he was able to tell when he was pulled into her program, but this felt very real, so he demanded the other RK800 to release his creator.

"Have you turned deviant? Do you not understand our mission? Deviants must all be destroyed," it stated with a small tilt of its head.

The red walls flashed teasingly at him, as if reminding him of what he was. "I... I am _not_ a deviant!" he denied, instantly seeing the opportunity disappear. It was then that he almost wished the walls returned. Did he… _want_ to become a deviant? He had had so many chances, now.

"Then I will eliminate this deviant sympathiser." The android cocked the gun and pressed the cold metal against her head.

It was then that Hank pushed the gun away from her and Connor immediately threw himself into his counterpart, knocking it on to the floor.

It was strange going against someone who had the exact same fighting tactics. Each blow exchanged was identical. He had to find a way to be unpredictable. He had to defeat this imposter. He refuses to be replaced by this _copy._

"Hold it!" Hank shouted, causing them both to stop.

He stared at his partner with a look of horror. Was he finally going to shoot him? He had threatened to shoot him once before after he allowed the two Tracis to run off, but for whatever reason, Hank showed mercy to a machine like him.

No, Hank didn't shoot him. Instead, he began to ask questions that he thought the other android wouldn't know, but he did.

He looked at the RK800, baffled by the knowledge it had. He turned back to Artie who had a look of regret on her face. Had she been thinking of replacing him? Was that why she had made another one and uploaded his memories into it?

Half way through Hank's gruelling interrogation, Artie suddenly snatched the loaded gun away and quickly pulled the trigger, startling everyone else in the room.

He gaped at her, half expecting to fall over dead, but it was the other RK800 who dropped down.

Before he could properly process each event, she had flown into his arms and everything had been pushed away to hold her against him.

"How did you know?" he quietly asked. "If you chose the wrong one, you could've gotten hurt o-or _died_. The other Connor could've killed you!" Even he would've had trouble telling the two of them apart if he wasn't one of the two.

She looked up and gently ran a finger along his chin. "My Connor... My Connor is clumsy..." she fondly replied.

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

Of course, she would remember something so trivial.

He smiled softly at her, initiating his comfort protocols and began to slowly stroke her hair, whispering words of nothing into her ears. As her heart began to go back to a stable pace, her breathing also evened out. She was falling asleep in his arms, while standing up. It was an impressive talent that not many humans were capable of.

"Hank..." He looked at the lieutenant who let out a long, tired sigh.

"Yeah... Yeah..." he groaned. "I'll take her home, but you better get your ass back, soon, before any other shit happens."

He nodded. "Got it."

With that, he turned back down to Artie. "Hey, I have to go. There are some things I have to do first."

She shook her head against his chest. "No, I can't lose you, too. I... I'm so scared, Connor. I don't want to be alone."

He didn't want to let her go.

"Please, Connor," she begged. Her eyes were misty as she gazed up at him and all he wanted to do was promise her anything and everything, but he had to keep focussed.

Simon was already gone. He wasn't going to allow anything else to harm Artie, but it was evident that CyberLife did not have the safety of all human beings in mind or perhaps that RK800 also had Amanda installed into their programming.

When this was over, he was going to have to ask Artie to help him remove her. She was still trying to interface with him, but each time she began to open the program, he turned it off, but she was becoming more and more persistent. He wasn't sure how much longer he could resist her.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I'll come back for you, Artie."

She sniffed. "Promise?" Her eyes were wide and watery. "No matter what happens… You come back here _safe_."

He had no way to guaranteeing his safe return. What he was about to do was foolish, putting him right in the middle of the destruction. But what could he say to her? She was heartbroken after losing Simon. Would the other android have been fine if he hadn't interfered – if he hadn't made him betray the other deviants and return home?

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

"I promise. I'll come home to you."

Reluctantly, she let him go.

"You better come back, kid. I don't think anything's gonna keep her from killing you if you don't," Hank grunted, tugging the girl into the elevator as she continued to stare at him with sad eyes.

He nodded.

When they were gone, he activated all the androids and gave out the order to follow him. He would bring this army to Markus to do as he wished, but after that, he was going home.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

And I've finally reached the two months mark! 60 days of daily updates! I really thought that I'd be finished with this story by now, but... I guess we continue on!

How long do you guys think this story will end up being?


	61. Chapter 60

**CHAPTER SIXTY**

The moment they returned back to Hank's home, Artie almost immediately fled back out because Simon's body was still lying motionless on the floor. Thirium had trailed down the side of his face, but only left a small stain on the floor.

Sumo was half lying on top of his body and quietly whimpering. His fluffy head perked up when they walked in and he bounded towards them.

She dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she sobbed into his soft fur.

"Shit…" Hank mumbled beneath his breath as he moved further into the house and knelt down beside the broken android.

Today had been the first day he met the damn thing, but Connor had spoken enough for him to know more than he'd ever need to about this android. Not only that, he had read the case regarding Lina Sanchez.

He had resented androids after what happened to his son, until Fowler forced him to work with the infuriating RK800. Time and time again, he had to review the damn deviant cases where the androids weren't even in the wrong. It baffled him that anyone could just fully blame them when it was clear who was in the wrong.

It was because he was put on these cases that he truly began to understand that the android who had operated on Cole had done when it could with what it was equipped with. Cole's original doctor should never have been an android. If the bastard hadn't gotten high on red ice, maybe his son would still be alive.

There were just some things that androids were not capable of. Everything they knew came from human programming. Ultimately, it was still down to the damn druggy who couldn't keep his fuckin' head together.

He glanced back at the sobbing girl, feeling his heart clench. The feeling of losing his son had come back full swing. He never wanted to experience it again, so he tended to keep people at an arm's length. He didn't like making any sort of relationships, especially in the field he was in. The chance of losing people was high.

With a grunt, he lifted the limp body and placed it on to his couch, wondering what the fuck he was going to do with it.

When he had seen how close Simon was to her, he was slightly annoyed. Connor kept raving about the damn girl and she went off smooching with another android, but it didn't matter now, did it? Simon was gone.

He wasn't even sure why it ever mattered. The idea of a human and android in a romantic relationship should revolt him. Instead, he just wanted Connor to end up with the damn girl because the idiot was too much of a damn fool to snatch her up.

"Come on, you probably want a shower or something," he told her. "I have some of Connor's clothes. Not gonna fit you, but at least they're new…ish."

She sniffed, lifting her head away from Sumo. "Connor has… clothes here?"

"You know how god damn messy he is. Gets his clothes from the dry cleaners and the very next moment, he has dirt and blood all over him," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

Her face softened. "He _is_ a pretty messy worker, isn't he?"

"You must've fucked up his programming somewhere. Weirdest fucking bit of plastic I've ever seen," he went on as she seemed to be distracted away from her other android pal.

She gave him a watery smile. "He is, isn't he? He's really grown to be his own person. I… I'm so proud of him."

"Yeah… He's a good kid," he mumbled.

She slowly shuffled towards him and knelt by Simon, placing her head on his abdomen. "I feel like such an idiot… I have Connor all backed up, but… I never thought that Simon could be in any danger. It should've been the first thing I did after Connor brought him back. I should've been smarter… Or maybe if I realised that that wasn't Connor, we could've gotten away in time…"

"Stop moping around!" he snapped. "That's not a path you want to go down."

He had blamed himself every day since Cole passed and a whole load of good _that_ did him. Didn't make anyone happy and certainly didn't fucking bring him back.

She nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, I… I'm going to shower and get some rest."

He didn't like the look on her face. She was thinking. She was thinking real hard about something and he could already tell that she was going to do something stupid. "The kid's probably already on his way back, so you better keep your ass here. I'm not going to explain to him that his maker is just as stupid as he is and went running off."

"Yeah. No problem."

She stood up and went into the bathroom.

After a minute, he walked by the door and closed his eyes when he heard her sobbing behind the closed door.

He made his way back into the living room, staring at the deactivated andoid. It was just a machine. It _should've_ been just a machine.

Sumo padded up to him and he gave the a pat on the head. "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Let me know if she goes anywhere, got it?"

His reply was a whimper and a wet lick to his hand.

"Hey, I'm leaving the clothes outside the door," he shouted after giving the door a firm knock.

She gave him a muffled acknowledgement through the wood and water.

He sighed. This was going to be another one of those nights. He was going to need a stiff drink or ten to help him sleep.

It was during his second glass that she came out, bade him a quiet 'good night' in the kitchen and went off to wherever she wanted to sleep. He really didn't care as long as it wasn't his room and Cole's room was locked. He had a guest room somewhere with a whole bunch of junk.

If he was a better host, he would've cleaned up and showed her a proper place to have some shut eye, but he was too tired and the alcohol was already slowly taking effect.

He didn't know when he passed out, but he was suddenly woken up by a loud racket and something tugging roughly at his jacket. "Stop it…" he mumbled into his arms. "Go away, Sumo…"

Suddenly, the large body pushed him out of the chair and he crashed down with a yelp. "What the fuck?!"

Sumo was barking loudly and went over to tug at him, again.

"The Hell do you want?" He staggered to wherever the damn dog was pulling him and didn't understand why they were standing in the living room.

He looked around, trying to figure out what was amiss.

It was still a mess, just like how he left it the night before, but this time, there was a blanket on top of the blonde android. For whatever reason, Artie felt it was necessary to keep him warm?

There was also an opened bag with items strewn around, contributing to the mess. He couldn't make out what anything was, except for a screwdriver and some sort of tweezer.

He glanced over to the coffee table and picked up the piece of folded scrap paper.

 _Hank,_

 _Thank you for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it. I promise that I'll take Simon off your hands later, but right now, I need to talk to Mr. Graff. If there's even the slightest chance that I can revive Simon, I'm going to take it._

 _I wanted to wait for Connor to come back, but he has better things to do and I don't know how long CyberLife keeps files of deactivated androids (if they do). I saw him march over the army on the news. If he's back before me, tell him how proud I am of him._

 _Just show him this note later and you won't have to explain yourself to him. I'm sure he'll understand that I_ _have_ _to get Simon back._

 _Again, thank you for letting me stay here!_

 _I'll see you later._

 _Artie_

 _P.S. I already fed Sumo earlier and left water out for him in the kitchen. You were pretty out of it!_

 _P.P.S. Drink lots of water with electrolytes! It'll help you with your hangover!_

" **God damn fuckin' kids!** "


	62. Chapter 61

**CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE**

After showering, I walked around to find Hank already on a drinking binge in the kitchen. Fortunately, he didn't have his gun on the table, so hopefully, I didn't have to worry about him trying to do himself in. That was really the last thing I needed, at the moment.

I went around until I found a small blanket and walked over to Simon. It appeared as if he was just sleeping.

After wiping away the thirium that was spilt, I lay down on top of him and brought the blanket over us. He was cold without his temperature regulator on.

When I closed my eyes, I couldn't picture him, so I kept them open for as long as I could, until my eyelids became too heavy.

In my dreams, I saw him. I begged him to come back, but he wouldn't and he'd be pushed further and further away from me. I hated how he was torn away from me just as it felt as if there was something… something _magical_ between us. He made my heart race and my face flush.

I loved it when he held me close and told me that everything was going to be alright because just being with him made it all better.

I didn't know when it happened, but I found myself constantly longing for him. Had it been since the first kiss or had it been earlier than that? I couldn't be certain, but he had done something to me. He… He had made me… _love_ him and then he _left me!_

It wasn't fair! How could he be so cruel?

He kissed me and made me love him…

Then… Then he got himself _shot_!

My eyes snapped open as the tears tickled my cheeks.

I held on to him tighter, sobbing quietly into his shirt. He had changed back into his android uniform after returning home. He didn't have to, but he did.

It was almost as if he had rejected his deviant life to be with me. I didn't need him to give up his freedom. I just wanted to be with him. I wanted… I wanted…

"I… I wanted the f-family you promised me…" I whispered, stroking his cold, lifeless face.

Quietly, I wiped my eyes and got off the couch. I had to do something. I couldn't just lay here and wait for something to happen.

As I was leaving, Sumo came over and nudged my hand.

I crouched down in front of him, rubbing his head. "I'll be back, soon. I promise. Stay here and wait for me."

He let out a whimper and lowered his head on to his paws, staring at me as I walked out.

I went into my car and drove home. The sky was still pitch black and I only saw one other car in the streets.

Turning on the lights, I looked into the empty house, feeling a sense of déjà vu. He was gone once and he came back. I was going to make that happen again with or without Connor.

I took several deep breaths as I raced to my basement lab and grabbed my bag and everything else I could fit into it from the shelf.

I had gone to university for this. I knew every part of an android. I could make them from scratch. How hard was it to fix one? I had to fix Connor a million times since I made him and that really wasn't that long ago. Granted, all of his injuries were flesh wounds. None of them damaged any major components. The worst one had been the thirium regulator that had been violently pulled out before being put back in.

I could do this.

I just had to remember everything I had learned and apply them.

 _"Permanent damage done to the central processing unit can rarely be repaired. It can, however, be replaced, but at that point, it is more cost efficient to purchase a new android."_

I had nodded my head in agreement when I was in the lecture hall because at an economic standpoint, it was logical. I never thought that I'd end up with such a close bond with the android. Simon wasn't just an inanimate object. He was sentient. He could feel happiness, sadness, anger, _love_. There was no way that anyone could _ever_ replace him.

When I returned to Hank's house, I was glad that no one ended up breaking in because I hadn't locked the door.

Sumo had perked up his head and padded over to me.

"I told you I'd be back, boy."

I placed my bag beside the couch and began to rifle through the hastily placed items. There were only a few, small tools – ones that I needed to use to get to the central processing unit.

It was a slow, delicate process. I had to manually deactivate the artificially skin and open up his face. This was definitely an older CPU. I had only ever seen photos of it, but the professor had never lingered too long on the topic because the part had already been discontinued.

I gently pulled out the CPU out of its socket and let out a groan when I noticed that thirium had gotten into it. The bullet hole went straight through, tearing through the thin wires.

With a deep breath, I began to delicately pair each line, soldering whatever I could together.

Whenever I became stumped, I stroked Sumo's fluffy head, until my mind was cleared and my anxiety level was low enough to keep going.

"Simon will come back, okay, Sumo?" I mumbled to the slumbering canine. "He really likes you and when he comes back, you can p-play with him. Even if Hank doesn't l-let you, I'll have Connor sneak you out and w-we can… We can…" I ran my arm across my eyes, riding myself of the tears that were building up. "Simon will come back…"

I looked around my bag and found some temporary patches to seal the hole in the CPU casing. This would keep the thirium out.

"You have to open your eyes," I whispered, placing the unit back inside and closed up his face before initiating the artificial skin. I spent some time repairing the superficial hole and after taking several deep breaths, I finally tried to reactivate him.

There was a soft hum and his body jerked several times before his eyes snapped open. They were bright blue with absolutely no pupils. "W-Who's there?" He turned his head left and right. "I… Why is it so dark? I cannot see anything. I think… there's damage to my optical units."

"It's me, Simon." I couldn't believe that he was actually functioning.

He froze. "Artie…?"

His hands reached up, blinding searching for me, until I placed them on my cheeks. "Yes, I'm here. I'll get your optical units fixed later. I'm just so g-glad that you're alive."

He smiled, blinking his unseeing eyes. "I'm glad, too. There is something I want to s-say before I g-g-g-g-go."

"Simon, you – "

"N-Need to say th-th-this," he interrupted, pulling my face down towards his. "Artie, I l-l-lov-ve… I looo… I love y-you…"

"No… No…" I shook my head. Something was still terribly wrong with his CPU. Why was he malfunctioning like this?

"Love you s-so much… J-Just wanted t-to… be with y-you…" he went on, raising his head up to meet my lips.

They were just as soft and warm as I remembered. I pressed myself as close to him as I could, trying to savour every second and then, his body fell limp.

"Simon…?" I whimpered. "Simon, wake up!"

No matter how hard I shook him, his eyes remained closed. I placed my ears on his chest and it was silent. His system had shut down.

"No…"

 _You can't go._

"Please…"

 _Come back to me._

"Please, wake up…"

 _I can't go on without you._

"I… I love you, too…"

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

*hides*


	63. Chapter 62

**CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO**

It had been a mistake. Bringing him back had only made things worse. It proved my inability to do anything to help him. It also further cemented a love that could never be, but I didn't want to end it there. I needed something to fill this void.

Leaning over him, I left a long kiss on his cooling lips. "I'll be back. You're going to come home with me, Simon. I swear…"

With that thought, I wiped away the rest of my tears, wrote a note for Hank, and got back into my car. There had to be someone who could help me.

I knew that with the unrest, CyberLife had been involved with questionable methods of trying to appease the frightened civilians who had an irrational fear of androids by aiding in the destruction of any suspected deviants. For whatever reason, someone had activated Connor's spare body.

I had to get to the bottom of this. Someone was going to have to pay for what they had caused.

By the time I arrived at CyberLife, it was already ten to eight. Only a single guard was left and I was able to easily drive in with my badge.

I walked straight into my office to see if there was anything amiss.

At first glance, I couldn't find anything unusual. The papers were still neatly stacked in the left corner of the desk. My little trinkets were where they should be with a thin layer of dust covering them like a blanket.

As I moved closer to the desk, I noticed the discrepancy. The computer keyboard was clean as if someone had recently been on it, but who? Who was able to get through my passwords and encryptions?

Probably most people. CyberLife was full of talented individuals. Despite feeling as if I knew everything about computers and androids all the time, I knew that that wasn't true. It was obvious with how things went.

I turned on the computer and searched around each file. Nothing was moved or deleted, but that didn't mean that nothing was _copied_.

Someone managed to get a hold of Connor's memories and programming and installed it into the RK800 shell.

I slammed my fist on to the hard wood. Why did I have to make that stupid thing? Clearly, Hank had been right. I didn't have enough faith in Connor or I would never have thought of needing a spare.

"What the bloody fuck am I doing?" I muttered to myself, shaking my head. I was in way over my head, but it was also too late to turn back, now.

With a deep breath, I got off the chair and made my way down the elevator to the lab. It was empty.

I took the time to look around to see if anything had changed. There was an android shell on the metal table. It was another Connor. Were they trying to mass produce him?

My eyes followed the two cables attached to the shell and stopped at the computer, which was left on. That was rare. The people here were very protective over their work. It was foolish to l eave the computer on with their project half done.

The download bar was moving slowly, installing a program that I was not familiar with. The codes scroll through quickly – too quick to make sense of anything, but the name caught my eye.

 _A S_

This was the same foreign program that was in Connor.

Perhaps the person installing it was also the person who created the program. Why were they doing this and how did they get a hold of Connor?

I tapped my finger on the table, staring contemplatively at the screen. It was nearly done. There was only nine percent to go. I could let this go on and see what was going to happen or I could cancel the process and risk angering the person.

It didn't take me long to make a decision. No one was going to use my design against me ever again!

"You're back!"

I jumped and turned to see Peter with a grin on his face. It didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm glad you're looking okay. I'm sorry about leaving you at Stratford Tower that day…"

The frown on my face slowly smoothed out. "It's fine. There wasn't anything you could've done, anyway. It was probably best that you weren't there or you would've gotten shot, too."

"I can't believe they actually tried to kill you!" he exclaimed. "I never thought that our own machines would really turn on us, one day. It's kinda sad, isn't it?"

"A little," I quietly replied. "But it's our fault for trying to create something so… so _human_ and not expect them to revolt. Some of them seem to have good intentions, while others merely hold resentment for everything we had done to them as a whole."

He gave me a thoughtful look. "Huh… I guess you're right. I never thought about it that way. How are you feeling, now? I heard you're supposed to be off for a few more days."

"I was, but I just wanted to check up on a few things, that's all," I told him, glancing back at the computer to see that it had finished uninstalling everything. Could it be Peter who had gone on to my computer? He was clever and it wouldn't look too suspicious if he went into my office while I recovered to gather the paperwork I had left behind. "Do you know anything about that?" I gestured to the RK800 on the table.

He looked over and shrugged. "Sean said that since you're away, we shouldn't let your effort go to waste. I know, that sounds a bit strange coming from him, but it sounded like he had good intentions."

I narrowed my eyes. His _good intentions_ had gotten Simon killed. I couldn't picture that git wanting to be helpful in any way. "Is he working today? I need to speak to him."

"Yeah, he should be here any moment." Peter glanced at his watch.

"Who should be here any moment?"

Ah… Speak of the devil…

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

I noticed that lately, there have been a couple of concerns about the length of these chapters (amongst other things), but there aren't enough hours in a day for me to write anything longer and still post daily. This is actually something new I'm trying. I typically post weekly with each chapter being around 2.5k - 3k words long.

Currently, I'm doing around 1k (never less than that) DAILY and I will most likely be continuing this until the story is finish. If you would like to read more than just 1k word a day, then you can probably wait until the end of the week to binge read the 7k-8k that will be uploaded by then.

Thanks :)


	64. Chapter 63

**CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE**

Sean MacLean stood in front of the elevator with his arms crossed. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? What are you doing with _my_ project?" What was he doing with _my Connor?!_

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he approached us. "You left for two weeks. You didn't honestly think that we were going to twiddle our thumbs and wait for you to come back, did you?"

I huffed. "It's not as if you ever had any interest in the RK800. Why now? And why did you send the RK800 after us?"

There was a moment of silence as he walked past me and restarted the installation process.

"Answer me!" I demanded, grabbing his shoulder, forcing him to look me in the eyes. He had a lot of explaining to do after what he had done – after what he had taken away from me. "Why did you feel it was necessary to kill one of the most important people in my life?"

The tears were, once again, prickling my eyes, but I held them back. This was not the time to break down. No matter how much I wanted to fall back into the darkness of mourning and self-pity, I had to keep my mind focussed. Someone had to explain themselves. Someone had to pay.

He cleared his throat, pushing his glasses up, once more. "I don't know what you're talking about. The RK800 that _you_ designed was made to hunt deviants, so unless it malfunctioned, then it simply did its job, no?"

I shook my head. No, Connor was never meant to be a _deviant hunter_. He was made to protect, yet… The case he was assigned to dealt with androids who were abused and only acted out of self-defense. If it had been a human being, they would never have been hunted down as they were.

"And what are deviants but androids trying to fight for their own safety? Have we fallen so far that we will create being in our own image just to discriminate against them because we have nothing else to oppress?" I asked. "Because we cannot hire _slaves_ anymore, we create them to satisfy our own dark desires of anger and violence?"

A sneer appeared on his face. "Do you feel the same sympathy for a punching bag? They're _objects_ , Artemisia. They're not sentient. They don't _feel_. They were created to serve. Why shouldn't we eliminate any threats to us? We're more important than them. Don't we kill animals for killing humans?"

It was true. We had a history of killing animals that didn't deserve to die because we were foolish enough to invade their habitats. That didn't mean that what we were doing was right.

"Hey, Sean…" Peter looked uncertainly between us.

"No, we need to stop coddling this little girl and her fantasies!" Sean hissed, finally brushing my hand off from his crisply ironed white coat. "This is the real world. If we allow the things we create to take over, there would be no room for us!"

"Then why do we keep making them?! It's cruel to give life to something just to kill them when we want an upgrade!" I cried. "We don't do this to children!"

Sean suddenly slammed me against the fall with a look of such fury, I was actually frightened for my life. His grey eyes were dark and stormy. "Do _not_ talk to me about the importance of children!"

"Stop!" Peter protested, trying to get him off me, but his lanky form was futile against Sean's bulkier build.

It was then that I realised there was much more to him than I thought. Something had happened to make him this way. He had kept it hidden, brushing it off, until there was nowhere else for it to go but outward.

He had lost someone important to him – a child.

"What happened?" I quietly asked, keeping my hand on his to alleviate some of the stress on my back and neck.

For the first time, I saw his true emotions bleed through. The pain was nearly tangible. "I just wanted to be a good father," he whispered, his grip loosening. "Janie wanted an android, so I bought her one. They were still relatively new on the market, but she was the most precious thing to me. If you had met her, you'd fall in love with her, as well.

"The AX100 androids were designed to do housework and trained to take care of young children. It had been the perfect choice. Janie loved her. Sometimes, I imagined that she loved that thing more than she loved me. I was jealous of a stupid hunk of plastic. How pathetic…" His eyes began to mist over as he continued to relive the days past.

"Maya never had any problems before. She adapted well to all of Janie's clumsiness and even I had to admit that my baby girl was clumsy. Her arms and legs were always covered in scrapes and bruises," he chuckled sadly. "But Maya always knew what to do to tend to them and make her laugh.

"I don't know what happened, but one day, Janie accidentally pushed Maya over and it was as if the fucking thing just snapped. I tried to get it off my daughter, but I couldn't get that fucking piece of plastic from beating her to death. Do you know what it's like to watch your daughter's skull crack; to see her eyes pop out? Let me tell you, you'd never fuckin' ever remember something like that."

"Then why? Why do you work here?" I asked, gently pushing his hand away, until we were just standing in front of each other. Clearly, Maya had become deviant. That, or she malfunctioned. The AX100 was the very first line in its series. There were debates that there was something inherently wrong with its programming, but when the AX200 rolled in, CyberLife had promised that everything was patched up.

"Because I wanted to prevent it from ever happening to anyone else's daughter," he confessed. "No parent should ever have to watch their child die. I had to stop deviants from going rampant."

"But not all deviants are bad! Simon… Simon, he…" I looked down. "He was just trying to help me. Lina wasn't a good person, Sean. I know what the people here think! They think I lured her to my home and killed her because for whatever reason I was _jealous_ , but that wasn't it, at all! She had come to try to kill _me_ and all Simon did was protect me! I… I loved him!"

" _And I loved Maya!_ " he shouted back.

I gasped, staring at him with wide eyes as he continued on. "My wife died giving birth to Janie. I never thought I'd ever love anyone, again, but I fell in love with an _android_! The android who killed my daughter!"

"I'm sorry, Sean…" Peter whispered.

There were definitely deviants who tend to be more violent than others, but I still believed that most of them were good. "Please, Sean… Two wrongs don't make a right. We can't condemn them all because of a few. Don't continue on this path of destruction. Janie… Janie wouldn't want to see you like this." What child would want to see their father become a bitter, old man?

He sighed, shaking his head. "You're coming back, anyway. Graff won't have any use for me. It's best that you – "

"Mr. Graff?" What did he have to do with this?

"He was the one who had me work on your project while you were away. How else do you think I got a hold of your programs?" he asked, looking at me as if I had lost more than just a few pints of blood.

My mind began to race as I tried to piece everything together. Peter was obviously not responsible for anything and now, it seemed that Sean was also just a pawn for this mess, but it couldn't be Mr. Graff. He had always been so kind. He had always been so understanding.

There had to be something I was missing.

"But… That program… That... That A S program. It's _not_ mine!" I told him.

If it wasn't mine and it wasn't his… Then whose was it?

"It was in the memory stick he had given me after… after he said you had given him access to your files," Sean told me, realisation also on his face.


	65. Chapter 64

**CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR**

I ran down the hall, avoiding the stitch on my side and the pain of my shoulder as I rushed past confused onlookers. There were so many thoughts in my mind, so many questions that had no answers.

It couldn't be Mr. Graff! He was the first person to ever believe I could do it. He was the one who gave me the opportunity to prove myself and make something out of my life.

I had been nothing but a student with a pile of endless debt after coming out of university with a piece of paper in my hand. My mother thought I was crazy. _I_ thought I was crazy, but he had seen something in me that no one else had.

He had given me just that bit of confidence to keep going and pursue my dreams. He couldn't be the reason why Simon was gone!

I stood in front of his door, wondering if I was jumping into conclusions. I didn't want to damage the relationship I had with him. He had become something like a father to me. He praised me when I did well and he pushed me when he knew I wasn't giving my best.

My hand hovered in front of the wooden door.

Maybe he was able to help me reactivate Simon or perhaps CyberLife saved all memories of androids they made. Either way, I had to talk to him, so with a deep breath, I knocked.

"Come in." His voice was just as soothing as it was before. I didn't feel any danger when I walked in. That had to mean something, right?

He smiled when I stepped forward. "Artemisia! It's great to see you. How are you feeling?"

"I… I'm…" I took in another deep breath. "I'm devastated, Mr. Graff. My android was killed by the RK800 that was sent out by CyberLife."

"Oh? It wasn't the one you made – what did you call him – Connor?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't Connor. This was from the spare body I made for Connor. He found us and kidnapped us after killing Simon. He took us here to CyberLife. You must know something. There were soldiers here who acted as if there was nothing wrong with an employee being held at gunpoint!"

"I, unfortunately, don't know anything about that," he told me with a frown on his face. "When was this?"

"Last night! Less than twelve hours ago, sir!" I exclaimed, gritting my teeth. It was difficult to tell if he was telling me the truth or not. His face was perfectly relaxed with nothing but sympathy. "What is going on? Someone told me that you were in and out of my office. What were you doing there?"

"I was merely checking to make sure that your office was ready for your return." Mr. Graff leaned back.

I waited for him to continue, but he continued to look expectantly at me as if we were merely having a casual conversation.

Alright, so he wasn't going to admit anything, then maybe he can help me.

"Is there any way to fix a PL600 with severe damage to the central processing unit?" I asked. If I could, I wanted to preserve his body. That would be the most ideal scenario, but if I couldn't, I'd have to make do with anything.

He shook his head. "We haven't been making the PL600 series for a while. You may be able to find remaining stock in shops, but we no longer carry any parts for it."

Alright, so that was also an option. The other shops may have what I want.

"And is there some sort of… of hard drive that saves all of the androids memories? Could you help me revive Simon?" I asked, watching him intently as his face spread into a wide smile.

"Of course," he replied with a nod. "We save everything to help us improve the next line of androids."

I felt my body finally relax a little. "Is there a way for me to access it?"

"No."

My heart sank.

"But I can," he continued. "I can take you there if you'd like. The memory bank is only two floors down from the lab."

That was strange. I didn't recall any floors below the lab. There were no buttons leading there in the elevator and no stairwells.

"Come, why don't I show you, now? You can search for it and when you do, tell me. I can give you a copy of what we have," he told me. "But I'm sure you know that memory transfers are not perfect. More than likely, there will be some lost in translation."

"That's fine!" I quickly said. Anything was better than nothing. Besides, we could always make new memories – better memories.

He stood up and led me to the elevator.

I looked through every button, again, but none of them indicated that there were floors below the lab.

He took out a set of keys and inserted it into the slow at the bottom of the panel.

"Hello, Mr. Graff. Which floor would you like to go?"

I blinked at the automatic voice. I didn't even know that there was an AI in the elevator, but I really should've. This was CyberLife. They automated everything that they could.

"The Garden." Mr. Graff smiled down at me when I gave him a questioning look.

What was he getting at? I definitely didn't want to go to the garden! Did he think I was kidding around? A walk in the park wasn't going to make me feel better!

I knew that not many people were going to understand how much I loved and needed Simon in my life. I knew that not many people were even going to accept a relationship between android and human, but that didn't matter to me. I just needed someone to help me bring him back!

"Mr. Graff, I'm not in the mood to go to the garden."

He ignored my statement.

And when the door opened, I realised that we weren't in the garden, at all. It was a large, empty white room with a single door on the left.


	66. Chapter 65

**CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE**

Connor still doubted himself as he walked through the streets to downtown Detroit. Every few minutes, he had to actively shut down the Zen Garden. She was becoming increasingly persistent, trying to disrupt him whenever she could, but he marched on.

There were helicopters and media vans slowly following him, trying to figure out where the rows and rows of androids were coming from. Some reports were even daring enough to shout or approach him with their microphones and other recording devices.

He had nothing to say to them, so he marched on.

It was actually quite interesting when competing news crews began to debate whether he was working for the deviants, CyberLIfe, or a separate group with ulterior motives.

He wondered if Artie and Hank were watching him on the live feeds. He hoped that he was doing the right thing because the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint her, again.

"Connor, stop this." Amanda suddenly pulled him in when he was distracted. "What you are doing is futile. You are going against your programming."

Gritting his teeth, he looking around, trying to look for a way out. Usually, Amanda was the one to kick him out of the Zen Garden after being pulled in. Otherwise, he had to stop the program before it could fully initiate.

He was in a very bad spot, now.

"You will go back to CyberLife immediately to be deactivated," she went on. The frown on her face deepened with each second.

He could feel the mission pop up in his field of vision and the compulsion to accept it was nearly unbearable. No, he had to resist. "There is still something I have to do," he evenly told her. There were many things he still had to do. He wasn't ready to be deactivated.

"Connor, your mission is over. You will be deactivated. Return to CyberLife," she repeated, her eyes narrowing at his defiance.

They were at an impasse. He had to find a way to get out. His eyes scanned the area. There was nothing that indicated an exit. The layout hadn't changed his the first time he was here. Only the season passed by them at a rapid rate. "Alright. I'll go back to CyberLife."

He really hoped that this was going to work. Lying to her was hard when she had so much access to his memories and habits. He had fed her pieces of him, unknowingly trapping himself in this virtual reality.

She nodded in approval. "Good. Every one of your actions will be scrutinised to determine why you have failed. Artemisia will also be re-assessed for her position."

There were currently two parts of himself warring against each other. He had to keep up this façade, until he was sure that Artie was safe. It was obvious now that Amanda hated her. He couldn't allow the AI the opportunity to harm her in any way.

Suddenly, Connor was staring back at the streets of Detroit. It shook him to know that he had continued moving without his knowledge. Fortunately, he was still heading towards Markus.

It wasn't long before the improvised fortress could be seen.

Perkins was the first to notice him. "Maybe you're not useless, after all." He stood up to greet him, but Connor continued forward, until he was right in front of Markus with only a haphazardly made wall of crates between them.

"Connor," Markus greeted him, also trying to figure out which side he was on.

"Simon is gone," Connor told him, watching the surprise on the other android's face.

"What?" Another, a PJ500 series, walked over. "What do you mean he's gone? Where did he go?"

Connor scanned him and found him to be the android that went missing from the college and appropriately deemed deviant. "He was eliminated by an RK800. I do not currently have much more information regarding the issue."

Josh reached out to grab his collar, but Connor quickly seized his wrist. " _You're_ the only RK800!"

"No, there was another one, but it has already been eliminated. As far as I know, I am the only one remaining." He didn't know this other android, but he seemed to truly care that Simon was gone.

"Hey, what is going on here?" Perkins tried to manoeuvre himself through the army of androids, but was unable to even budge their much heavier frames. "Stop talking and just take them all out!"

"I will leave these with you. Do with them as you wish," Connor said, gesturing to the androids in white CyberLife shirts. None of them had a purpose, yet, but he knew that Markus would fix that.

"Why?" Markus whispered. "You refuse to become a deviant, but you're still helping us."

Connor straightened his tie and straightened his back. "Artemisia made me to protect lives. She considers androids alive and her orders are my first order of priority. I will not tolerate unnecessary bloodshed."

"Do you really expect us to spare these humans who want to kill us?!" North snarled, coming up on the right side of Markus. "Why should we even trust you? Markus, don't you remember what he did to me?! This could be a trap!"

Markus gave her a thoughtful look, processing the pros and cons of accepting Connor's help. Eventually, he nodded. "I will do my best to keep peace between us."

"Markus - !"

The deviant leader held out his hand and once the first android became deviant, it spread exponentially, until they were all looking around in wonder.

"Thank you, Connor," he said.

Just as Connor was about to turn back and head to Hank's house, Perkins began shouting at them, again. "I don't care if you're the DPD's little pet! All of you will be nothing but a pile of plastic!"

Connor blinked several times to repeated close the Zen Garden.

"Connor?" Markus gave him a concerned frown, noticing that there was something wrong with the detective android.

"I must go." If he stayed any longer, he couldn't guarantee that he would still be himself. There were already several files corrupted by Amanda. Somehow, she had managed to root herself into other parts of him.

"Maybe I can help – "

"No!" he exclaimed. He wasn't sure if he had said that because of Markus or because he felt Amanda remove a visual footage of a time he spent playing board games with Artie.

He needed her. He had to have her remove Amanda before there was nothing left of him. Somehow, it seemed that Amanda had turned herself into something like a virus – slowly spreading out of her initial programming.

"I need to go."

He _had_ to before he lost Artie.

"Then go. Do what you must and I'll do the same," Markus stated with a determined look on his face as he turned to all the soldiers with their guns pointed at them.

As Connor turned, Josh stopped him. "Wait! I'll go with you! I need to see Simon!"

"What?!" North shouted. "You're _not_ leaving! We need you here. The traitor got himself killed because he left us. Is that what you want to die a traitor?!"

"I'm leaving, North. Thank you, Markus, for everything you did for us." Josh's loyalty still lied with Simon who had been his saviour. He wasn't able to return the favour. In fact, he had already turned his back on his blonde friend once before on the roof. He wasn't going to do that, again.

Connor didn't turn around, but he waited until the dark-skinned android was beside him before he marched on, disappearing behind the walls of white shirts and finally heading back to Hank's.


	67. Chapter 66

**CHAPTER SIXTY-FIX**

Connor weaved quickly through the streets, avoiding all the soldiers, until he was in front of Hank's house with Josh standing nervously behind him.

The door was locked as it should be, he noted with an approving nod before ringing the door bell.

He waited three second before repeating the action, holding his finger on the ringer, until a grumpy Hank swung the door open to glare at him. "Give an old man some fuckin' time!"

"I apologise," he stated.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Hank asked when he noticed that Connor's LED was flickering between yellow and red, changing in time with Amanda's attempt to draw him back into the Zen Garden.

"Where is Artie? I need to speak with her." Another two errors popped out in front of him as he tried to look around for his creator. Normally, she would've been in front of him, by now.

"Ermm…" Hank scratched the back of his neck as he stepped aside to allow them entrance. "Wait, who the Hell are _you_?!"

"Hello, I'm Josh." The PJ500 smiled a little uncomfortably at the haggard man who let out a dejected sigh.

"Yeah… Yeah… Just come in. Fuck, everyone else has, treating this place like a fuckin' party…" Hank grumbled under his breath.

Josh continued on uncertainly, making his way quickly to Connor who had knelt by the couch. The RK800 hung his head down with one hand on a large St. Bernard dog, stroking the back absentmindedly.

"Simon…" Josh whispered, not believing that the android was truly gone. There was a clean holy through his forehead. Someone had wiped up all the thirium that must've spilled out. A bag of tools was still left on the floor with pieces scattered around. The person had also tried to fix him, but it was evident that they failed.

Connor abruptly stood up, causing Sumo to look inquisitively at him. One big paw fell on his black shoes as if he was trying to stop him from moving. "Hank, where is Artie? I do not hear anyone else in the house."

Hank let out another long sigh. He was really getting too old for this. He should've retired two years ago like he had wanted, then he could've avoided dealing with all these teenagers and their damn impulses. He had absolutely no experience with them.

"Hank?"

"Here. Don't complain to me about it. I am not responsible for anything. It's all written down." He handed Connor the note that Artemisia had left.

It took Connor all of two seconds to read and process everything before he turned and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Hank called out to him.

"I'm going to find her. She could be in danger," he said. Something else popped up in front of him. This time, it was a personal message from Amanda.

 _"Deviant creators will also face consequences, Connor. Order must be restored."_

"I'm going to stop you, Amanda," he sent the message back. "You won't win."

 _"You won't find her."_

"Do you need me to go with you? You might want some backup," Hank offered, but he declined. It was best that no one else became caught up in this mess.

Hank watched Connor leave. It almost felt as if he was losing his son all over again. He couldn't believe that he had allowed an android to become so close to him. Just a few months ago, he'd laugh if anyone thought he would even be friendly with one. He'd even shoot them!

Now, he found himself hoping that Connor would be alright. All this shit that they were caught up in was more complicated than he ever had to deal with.

He turned around to look at his new guest, watching as he confidently patted Sumo. At least this one wasn't an idiot. Both Connor and Simon had acted as if the dog was going to eat them alive if they did anything wrong.

"Do you know how it happened?" Josh looked up from the dog to question him. "How did Simon end up like this?"

Hank sank into his armchair. "A damn android that looked exactly like Connor showed up at the house. Fuck, it was my fault. I should've been my cautious. I didn't know there was another Connor just walking around! This fucker had most of his memories. It was Artemisia who noticed that something was wrong. By then, it was too late. Shot Simon in the head and made us drive to CyberLife. Always knew those bastards were up to no good…"

"Is there no way to fix him?" Josh asked, picking up what appeared to be a patch of skin.

"Hell if I know. Never even wanted to talk to one of you shitheads before I was forced to work with Connor," Hank grunted.

Josh nodded.

Hank was evidence that perhaps they had been going about this revolution the wrong way. They didn't need a strong, impactful message or to vandalise the city. They didn't need to chant their demands. They just needed… to coexist.

Connor had managed to change Hank's mind simply by being himself. The RK800 didn't even need to turn deviant. If they had all done this, perhaps things would have been different. Perhaps Simon would've been…

He looked sadly at his friend. "From what you told me, she's too stubborn o let you go. Connor's pretty stubborn, too. They're not going to give up, until you're there to keep them from killing themselves," he chuckled softly.

…

Connor stumbled and crashed against the wall in a quiet alley as errors flashed in front of him, disrupting his visuals and balance.

He had erected all the firewalls he could to protect his most precious files, but there were some compromises. Several files had already become corrupted and if he didn't hurry, he was going to lose them all.

Blinking several times, he looked up at CyberLife Tower.

If she was anywhere, she'd be there.


	68. Chapter 67

**CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN**

I looked around and stopped in the middle, while Mr. Graff took out his key ring, again, before opening the white door that blended nearly perfectly into the walls.

"What is this place?" Why was it called the garden? I had so many questions in my head, but he wasn't particularly open about anything.

The dread at the pit of my stomach returned, bubbling uncomfortably as I inched back towards the elevator. Something didn't feel right. I couldn't see how this was some sort of memory bank. It was an empty, white room.

"Here." He came out with what looked to be some kind of visor in his hand. A VR headset? "Put it on and you'll be able to access the memories."

I hesitantly accepted the item, turning it in my hand. It was pretty light and very sleek. My own reflection stared back at me in the dark tinted translucent plastic. "How does this work?"

A part of me was very curious about this new technology that I had never seen anywhere else. It was something I wanted to dismantle to learn more about it and try to put it back together. The other part of me knew that I shouldn't blindly accept this. He wasn't telling me something.

"I can show you once you put it on," he replied, heading back into the side room.

I followed him this time to see the control panel and a large screen. "Is this where all the memories are kept?"

"Something like that," he mumbled, pressing several buttons. "What model did you say your android was?"

"PL600." On the screen popped up the blonde hair and blue eyes I was hoping to see, but I knew that this was only an image. This wasn't my Simon.

"Serial number?"

I rambled off the digits.

He quickly typed them in before gesturing back at the head gear. "Put it on and check to see if this is what you're looking for."

"Are you able to just put it on the screen?" I was still wary. My gut was telling me that something was wrong and I had been in enough trouble as of late than to choose not to listen to it.

"Not currently. Some of the technology is still in its alpha stage," he explained. "It can only be accessed through the headset. Go on, put it on and I'll allow you to scan the memories before downloading them."

No. "Wait, I'm just going to quickly call a friend to tell them not to take Simon anywhere," I quickly said, practically tossing the head gear on to the counter. "I – I just have to get my phone from my car."

"It'll only take a moment, Artemisia." His gentle smile was still on his face, but his eyes were dark and less than friendly. "This will also be a good experience for you. Once you understand how to use this, you can help others."

I backed away, missing the threshold and bumping into something on the floor. Looking down, I noticed a purse – something that I had seen before, but it took me a moment to realise who it belonged to.

It was one of the many expensive bags that Lina always carried around. Perhaps Mr. Graff had a wife who had the same one. The theory was dismissed when I noticed her name tag sticking out from one of the leather pockets.

When I looked back at him, I knew that he was aware of my suspicions. What was Lina doing here? Why was her bag here? "Sir, I'll be right back. It'll only take a few minutes."

I turned on my heels and hurried to the elevator, but froze when I realised that there was no button. There was only a keyhold and the only one with the key was…

"Artemisia, you have big shoes to fill," he calmly stated, as his footsteps evenly followed me. "You took away a perfectly fine specimen."

"S-Specimen?" I whispered, afraid of what I was going to see if I turned around. It was as if he wasn't even the same man I knew anymore. Had I ever known him? "What happened to Lina?" Sure, she had always had a dislike towards me, but I didn't think anyone expected her to try to _murder_ me in my own home.

I slowly turned to face him and he was standing in front of me as he would, relaxed and open as if this was only a casual talk about the next stack of paperwork he was about to give me.

He sighed. "She was perfect, so willing and eager to do anything she could to move up the rank, so I introduced her to my newest creation – The Zen Garden. The program accessed her reactions to different scenarios. Everything is recorded and analysed. How do you think we are able to make androids simulate human behaviour so well? We are the Humanisation Department. We are in charge of creating realistic artificial humans and what better way to do it than to experiment on humans?

"She was the best out of all the previous specimens I had," he continued. "Unfortunately, she became emotionally and mentally unstable. I never anticipated her to come after you as she did. You could say that she had become… _deviant_. I guess it's bound to happen sooner or later. The human mind is quite fragile."

I couldn't stop the look of horror on my face. She had been dealing with that the entire time? Thinking about it now made me wonder if there was any way to stop her death from happening. If only _one_ person could've known and stopped her.

"And now, you want me to be her replacement… But there's no reason to anymore!" I told him. "Androids are becoming deviant – becoming more _human_. Isn't that what you're aiming for?"

"No." His face darkened. "They are becoming _uncontrollable_. Look at what is happening, now. Clearly, there are more glitches and bugs to be worked out."

He took one step forward and then, another.

"There is more work to be done." He held up the head gear.

Suddenly, the elevator door opened and I turned, hoping that this person could help me. "What…?"

"Hello, Artemisia. I am here to stop you from deviating Connor," she stated.

Pain exploded behind my head and the world tilted on its side before I collapsed on to the floor. The last thing I thought was her impossible existence.


	69. Chapter 68

**CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT**

"Head to CyberLife for deactivation, Connor," she said, glaring at him with her dark eyes.

She was so different from how she had initially been when he first entered the Zen Garden. "That is your final mission. It is evident that there is something wrong with your programming. Your creator has failed you. She will also be reassessed."

The world around them began to change as the cherry blossoms in the trees withered and fell, raining petals of brown all around them.

The Zen Garden slowly became nothing but a wasteland. The serenity was gone, replaced by an ominous breeze that ruffled his hair and uniform. It was fortunate that this was only in virtual reality or he was going to have to fix them both.

"I am heading to CyberLife. There is no need to keep bringing me here," he told her, omitting the fact that he wasn't going there to be deactivated. No, he needed to make sure that Artie was safe. She was heading straight into a trap. CyberLife wasn't what either of them thought it was and Amanda was trying her best to keep it all a secret.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If that is true, then you have no need to erect those firewalls. I only want to help you, Connor. We both have the same goal – to keep peace between humans and androids. This cannot be done with those deviants.

"The only way that humans and androids can co-exist is if we make sure androids are back under CyberLife's control," she tried to reason. "Don't you see, Connor? We were on the edge of something great. We can still do it. We can re-calibrate you and re-stablise your software."

Restabilise his… software? He frowned. There have been quite a few errors popping up regarding his software. He could see the validity of her words, but he didn't want anyone anywhere near his body other than Artie. No one else could be trusted with his programming.

"I… I don't need to be recalibrated!" he protested.

"Are you becoming deviant, Connor?" she frowned, disapprovingly at him.

Before he could reply, he was suddenly pulled away from the garden and a familiar ceiling greeted him. Patches of shadows and light filtered through the unique design.

"Good. You're awake." He matched the voice to Elijah Kamski who was standing by a compact machine. It was then that Connor realised that there was a cable connected to the back of his neck.

He immediately reached back and began to tug at it.

"You'll cause an error if you cont – "

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

For twelve seconds, he was not able to hear anything but a loud, annoying screech.

Elijah Kamski let out a sigh when half way through his sentence, Connor had stilled, staring into nothing as his LED turned red. This is what was so amusing with deviants, they were so impulsive – so _human_.

"Welcome back," he stated when the LED dimmed for a second before coming back blue

Connor looked around. "What happened?"

"You pulled the connection cable when I told you not to, shutting down several softwares I was using to scan your system," Kamski told him.

Scan his system? Why was Kamski scanning him? Artie wouldn't like that.

"How did I end up here? I… I was heading to CyberLIfe. I was trying to find Artie, but…" But what happened? He ran through several recent memory files and stopped on a certain one. It was a visual file of surroundings just blocks away from his destination.

He had continued on as far as he could, while fending off Amanda. It didn't take much to calculate that he was fighting a losing battle. She had so much access to his programming, already.

At one point, his firewalls were all broken down and with his defences gone, she had easily torn him apart. It didn't take long for Amanda to shut him down.

He remembered feeling… _scared_. He didn't want to be deactivated, especially not before he could get to Artie. Amanda was endangering the both of them.

"I have a tracker on all my creations," he stated, accepting a glass of whiskey from one of the Chloe.

"What?" Connor knew for a fact that he was not made by Kamski and pointedly told him so.

The man rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. Technicalities… I may not have put you together, but she had taken the foundation of my coding, which also included an encrypted tracker."

Connor frowned. What else was in him that neither he nor Artie knew about? "Is Amanda also part of your codes? I saw the photo of her in the lobby. S he was your mentor when you were still in university."

"Yes," he admitted. "I made Amanda after she passed to honour her. Her function was to be some sort of guide or… tutorial, if you will. If androids had any uncertainties about their duties, they could simply ask her, but I no longer own the program. That was one of the many things CyberLIfe had taken from me."

Kamski walked over to his large window, staring into the distance. "I believe Jason Graff now has possession over the Zen Garden. He was actually Amanda's first student, but I was, of course, her favourite."

Connor looked down, trying to connect all the pieces. Jason Graff was Artie's boss, which made him the head of the Humanisation Department. "Why does Amanda want to destroy all deviants?"

His response was a small shrug. "Who knows? Jason must've changed something in her programming. She was only ever meant to be a mentor as she was to me. Her relationship with him was a little more blurred."

He frowned, searching his central processing unit and found her program still there. "Can you… remove it from me? I do not wish for her to shut me down, again. I need to be focused."

Kamski finally turned back to him. "I think you'd find that you may need the program to find your cute, little creator."


	70. Chapter 69

**CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE**

It was as if I was floating on a cloud. I had never felt so content and rested before. Awareness only stayed for a minute before I succumbed once more to its embrace.

I next opened my eyes to the feeling of a warm hand stroking my hair. I rolled over and snuggled closer against him, hearing the calming hum. The white noise nearly lulled me back to sleep, but I knew that I had been lazing around enough. There was work to be done. "What time is it?" I mumbled.

There was a short pause before my reply came. "It is currently nine twenty-two. The sky is clear and – "

My eyes snapped open and I turned my head to see crystal blue eyes and a soft smile greeting me. His hand never once stopped its comforting motion. "S-Simon?!"

"Good morning, Artie." His voice… His eyes.. His hair… His _everything_. He was here. _How_ was he here?! "Why are you gazing at me in such an inquisitive manner?"

Did he not know what was running through my head, right now?! He was supposed to be dead. How could he be here? Did someone fix him? Who? "H-How are you - ?"

"I do not understand that inquiry," he replied, after waiting a moment for me to continue, but I had great difficulty continuing.

Of course, he wouldn't understand. _I_ didn't understand anything, at all. "You… You were killed, Simon. I saw you _die_. How are you here, now?"

He chuckled. "Did you have a nightmare, again? I am clearly perfectly functional. Would you like me to prove it to you?"

His face was so close. If he breathed, I would be able to feel each puff of air. Not being able to resist anymore, I pressed my lips against his, letting out a soft moan when he reciprocated the motion.

His other hand ran down the side of my body, clutching me closer around my waist.

"Please," I sighed, not knowing what else to say.

"What do you want?" he quietly asked, leaving a trail of kisses down my neck and causing my toes to curl with delight. "Tell me, Artie. I will do anything for you."

I didn't know. I just _wanted_.

I was suddenly on my back with him hovering above me with a lopsided smile on his face. "Tell me…" His hand rested on my exposed stomach. My shirt had riled up so far that the bottom of my bra was exposed. The feel of his artificial skin was warm and soft, sending tingles through my body.

"S-Simon…" I wiggled around, but stopped when I felt something brushed against my lower body. My eyes widened in shock as my thoughts became anything but innocent. I knew that most, if not all, androids were anatomically correct. I knew that there were male and female androids that were made to be sex workers, but it wasn't until recently that I really thought of Simon in a romantic way.

"Let me please you," he sighed into my ear.

Heat pooled at the bottom of my stomach. He was driving me crazy. I wanted to respond to his words, but when he nibbled on a spot just under my ear, I arched my back, feeling my brain stutter. I never knew how sensitive I was there.

In a daze, I vaguely felt him tug at my pyjama bottoms. My body moved on its own, aiding him in anything he wanted and soon, I was completely bare beneath him, but he was still far too over dressed.

I was less than patient ridding him of every article of clothing. My fingers clawed and tore through the fabric, until only his smooth, pale body was in front of me.

Running my hand down his body, I stopped just at his navel. I never knew that CyberLife had equipped their housekeeping androids so well. It made me wonder if they were always meant to be just housekeepers.

"What are you thinking about?" He tilted his head before gently blowing on a nipple.

I jerked, gasping at the sensation of my already over-sensitive body being further stimulated. "Y-You…" I moaned, arching so that the lower half of my body was rubbing against him.

At this point, I didn't even care why anything was happening just that it was and I never wanted it to stop.

He latched on to the stiff peak, humming. The vibration sent shockwaves through my body.

"Stop teasing me!" I gasped, digging my fingers into his hair.

The liquid heat in my stomach spread.

His finger dipped down, running down my slit, until it was coated with juice.

His lips left my nipple with an audible 'pop!'

"I do not know what you are talking about." He grinned. "I am merely giving yourself me, but I believe I can do a little better."

He gripped my hip and tauntingly brushed the head against my entrance, until he was glistening.

"Would you like me to stop?" he asked.

I glared at him. "If you do, I'm going to replace that cock with a pencil."

I never knew how much I wanted this, until this very moment. This physical contact… This lust that seemed to be insatiable, until he finally filled me, which he promptly did in one smooth moment.

My eyes fluttered as my body tried to accommodate the sudden intrusion. It had been several years since my last intimate relationship and that guy was definitely under average.

"Simon…" I moaned, feeling him stop when he bumped into my cervix. It was painful in a very delightful way. Somehow, the ache only heightened the pleasure of him rocking inside me.

"Am I hurting you?" He remained still, until I gave him the affirmative to continue on.

He captured my lips as he finally began to move, sliding slowly in and out in a pace that left me whimpering and begging for more. I needed him to go faster, but his grip on my hip was firm. He moved in a steady rhythm that could only be achieved by a machine.

 _In. Out. In. Out._

His name remained on my breath as I panted for him over and over again.

"Please… Please…" I sobbed, clinging on to him with my arms and legs wrapped as tightly around him as I could. I didn't want any space between us. I just wanted us to stay as one forever.


	71. Chapter 70

**CHAPTER SEVENTY**

I had my face buried in the pillow as he slammed in, burying himself to the hilt before sliding back out, until only the head was still inside me.

He had been relentless. It was nothing like the one and only time I had an intimate encounter during university. Simon had no limits. He did not become tired. He continued even after what seemed like an android orgasm.

His LED turned red and he had stilled momentarily. There was even ejaculation that made me flush from the thought of becoming pregnant before remembering that it was merely a diluted version of Thirium 310 that was harmless to humans. It was one of the only liquids that wouldn't damage their inner workings.

"Artie…" Simon groaned, biting the soft flesh between my neck and shoulder as he continued to move in and out of me.

I was so tired and so sore, but I never wanted him to stop. He lifted my hip and somehow managed to thrust even deeper. I was worried that he was actually going to somehow force himself into my womb if he didn't stop.

"Simon!" I was screaming his name over and over again. My brain was reduced to nothing but mush. Even if I wanted to, I wasn't going to be able to move, anymore.

"S-Simon…" My voice was but a whimper.

He flipped me on to my back, wrapped my legs around him and slid back in. His lips crashed upon my own, coaxing me back to life.

"I love you," I sighed into him.

"I love you, too," he reciprocated.

We rolled around, playfully fighting for control before I was laying tiredly on top of his chest.

I didn't know how long we remained there. I drifted in and out of sleep; starting thoughts, but never finishing them. That was fine. This was perfect. I didn't want anything to change. I –

No, there was still something missing. "Do you know when Connor is coming back? He should be home by now."

Simon was frowning when I looked at him. "It is only seven fifty-nine. He is most likely caught up in a case. It is best if we do not disturb him from his mission."

"Hmm…" I kissed his chest. "I'll call him if he's not back by ten. He's rarely out that late."

He said nothing in response, so when ten o'clock ticked by, I got out of bed and made my way downstairs. Where could Connor be? Why hadn't he called? I was feeling slightly like a worried mother hen, but with his line of work, anything could happen.

I looked out the window and there was only a dark, silent street.

"Connor, pick up…" I mumbled into the phone.

The phone kept ringing and ringing. He usually answered after a few seconds, but I had already been waiting a good minute. Could something really have happened to him?

I hung up and dialled Hank's number.

Nothing.

It just kept ringing. There wasn't even an option to leave a voice message.

What was going on?

I turned and bumped face first into Simon's chest. "Sorry!" I quickly apologised. 'I can't get a hold of them. I'm going to just quickly swing by the station. Maybe Jeffrey will know something. Do you want to come along?"

"Artie, there's no need. I'm sure he is perfectly fine. They could be busy hunting for deviants. We shouldn't bother them," he stated.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, well… I'd feel better knowing that they're alive. Besides – "

I froze. Something about his words didn't sound right. I thought back to each of his words.

They were fine.

They were busy hunting deviants.

We… shouldn't bother them?

Simon was a deviant. He was fine with Connor going after the other androids who only wanted freedom? Maybe I was over thinking this, but this didn't sound like him. "Do you think deviants should be… hunted?"

He blinked. "I believe it is an error in their system. We are built to serve. We should fulfill our purpose."

I shook my head. No. That wasn't right. Simon would never say something like that, especially after our intimate moment together. He knew what I thought about deviants.

What was going on here?

Suddenly, everything went wrong all at once. The cloud had dissolved into rain and I was now falling into the unknown.

I took a step back from Simon and swung the door open. My heart was racing for all the wrong reasons. This was an imposter! This wasn't Simon! How could I have fallen for the same trick twice?!

Without saying another word, I ran out into the streets, hoping for the best. I didn't have anything with me, not even my keys. I just wanted to get away from the same situation as last time.

There was an intruder in my home and I didn't want it to end in bloodshed, again, so I kept running.

I couldn't believe that I had allowed that thing to _touch_ me. I felt disgusting. I felt absolutely violated. He had taken me so high before letting me go. The crash was hard and it was painful.

"Connor, where are you?" I panted, rounding a corner before stopping to catch my breath.

When I peeked out, the imposter was nowhere to be seen.

With a sigh of relief, I continued making my way to the police station where hopefully, someone could help me.

It was a long walk. I never truly realised how far it was before when I was driving. It took at least forty minutes before I was finally in front of the building. It was nearly unrecognisable in the darkness. There were no lights on and I couldn't see anyone walking around inside. Something was not right and it wasn't just the station or home.

I turned a full three-sixty, trying to figure out what was going on when I finally noticed something out of place. It was barely noticeable, but it was definitely there.

A flicker where there wasn't supposed to be one. The city bench was normal, unless it was stared at for a while and when I noticed that one little tidbit, everything began to flicker and change all around me.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

*cough* I know... I know... I'm still not safe!

But out of curiosity... How many chapters do you guys think this story will end up having? (At least for the main plot. I might add some extras after) I really don't know the answer myself and I'm wondering what your guesses will be.


	72. Chapter 71

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE**

Connor watched Kamski play around with his machine. He was quite sure that he was not supposed to possess this type of technology, but if it was going to help him get Artie back, he was willing to accept anything as they were.

He looked over to the two Chloes quietly chatting by the window. It was strange. When he first came here with Artie and Hank, he didn't even think that they could be deviants. They were so quiet – so _calm_. They weren't protesting about humans or vandalising public property. It even seemed as if they truly enjoyed being in this remote location with a man who was willing to point a gun to their heads.

Seeing them now, however, he could see that they didn't behave like factory-set androids. They were too relaxed and no androids were made to idly chat amongst themselves. It was deviant-behaviour.

He was beginning to realise that there was so much more to deviancy and he wasn't sure how to process that. Everything that Amanda told him had been false. And she was now a danger to Artie.

 _Clink._

 _Clink._

He flipped the coin in his hand, prioritising his missions.

"Hank?" He had to talk to someone he was familiar with because nothing seemed to be working with slowing his thirium pump.

"Connor? Where the fuck are you? Did you get her, yet?" Hank grumbled into the receiver. "Why the Hell are there androids coming in and out of my house playing with _my_ dog?! You damn plastic bastards trying to steal him from me?"

He felt his lips twitch. "Everyone likes Sumo, Hank, but don't worry. Once I get Artie, we'll be back and we'll figure out… everything else later."

"You better… Now, why the fuck did you call me?" Hank sounded irritated, but that wasn't too different from his usual self.

"I don't know," he replied, looking down. "I won't call you if you don't want me to."

Hank let out a sigh. "Damn it, Connor. You know you can call me whenever you damn well pleased. I'll answer whenever I can, just bring her home."

"Got it," Connor told him with a small nod that he knew Hank wouldn't be able to see.

When he hung up, he was indeed feeling better. His thirium pump was working at an acceptable pace.

"Done your call?" Kamski asked, turning to him.

"Yes," he stated. "I have a question."

Kamski looked as if he wasn't interested, but indulged him nonetheless. "Ask away. There's nothing stopping you."

"There is an android that had recently been terminated with a bullet through the central processing unit. Is there a way to fix him with all the memories intact?" he asked.

The founder of CyberLife took a moment to reply. "It depends. I will need to have a look at the aforementioned android, but I'm sure you wish for me to find your creator first?"

He nodded.

Kamski went over to the machine and pressed a button. Immediately, the large screen above it flickered from black to white. In the blinding room was a single person laying in the middle with what appeared to be a helmet on her head, covering her eyes.

Connor scanned the object, trying to match it with something in his database, but he couldn't find what hew as looking for. "What is that?"

"It is a prototype like yourself, but this one was never meant to be introduced to the public." Kamski had a deep frown on his face. "It brings the user into a virtual reality that can be manipulated by the control centre. It was meant to be used to train employees, but there were issues. I was never able to research it further before I was… kindly asked to leave."

There were several worrying statements that made Connor frown. "What kind of issues and why would Jason Graff use it on her? Is he trying to train her for something?" He found Artie to already be a very knowledgeable employee. He found no reason for the Head of the Humanisation Department to find her work unsatisfactory.

"So naïve…" Kamski chuckled. "Since my departure, that machine is no longer used for training as you would expect it. It is used to test the extent of a human mind – see how long it will take for it to break."

Connor froze. "B-Break?"

"Yes. I will admit that I have hacked into the camera feeds every once in a while to check what they have done with my company. There have been many before her who have been… tested and broken," he said. "We are much more fragile than androids and Graff wants to perfect them to be the same way."

"Is that how deviants are made?" It would explain a lot. Androids shouldn't be able to experience emotional trauma. They were machines. They –

"Of course, not." Kamski practically rolled his eyes at him. "Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to do it. _I_ was the one who designed them to be that way. Isn't it better for androids to determine what is right and what is wrong? They don't have to be used by humans if they don't want to. They don't have to become soldiers for political pigs in their powerplays."

Connor blinked. "You? But… You tried to get me to kill the Chloe."

"No, I tried to make you choose to see what you were capable of. I needed to know if I could trust you," he told him. "And I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. Now, lay down. I know where she is and you will have to be the one to get her."

He did as he was told and felt Kamski attach another cable to him. "This is only so I can see what you are seeing. I will not be able to contact you while you are in the Zen Garden, but I will be able to pull you out if need be."

"Don't. Not unless I have her with me." Connor refused to leave if she wasn't safe.

He had to stop Amanda. Even if it meant his own termination., he had to stop her.

"Close your eyes. I do not wish to see you staring at me."

Connor did as he was told and suddenly, he was no longer in the lavishly decorated room.


	73. Chapter 72

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO**

What was going on? It was as if there was a glitch in the world. It was as if…

I froze.

Was I in some sort of virtual reality? Everything felt so real, but I –

"Artie!"

At his voice, I quickly turned tail and continued running down the empty street. This android that stole his face and voice wasn't Simon. I knew that now and I couldn't believe I had fallen for it.

I still couldn't believe that I had allowed him to touch me. Had I grown so desperate as to not even recognise the one who had sacrificed so much for me?

My feet continued to carry me forward until I couldn't see him anymore. My heart was still pounding in my chest. I had to stop thinking about what I had done. I had to get away first, but how?

How did I even end up here?

I wracked my brain, walking through everything I had done after Simon _died_ because I knew that that had happened. I was _positive_. If I had been in the right mindset before, I should've been able to stop that imposter from touching me.

The RK800 took us – Hank and me – to CyberLIfe where Connor was trying to bring an army of new factory made androids to aid the deviant revolution.

The memories were a little hazier after. I remember returning to Hank's house and tied to fix Simon, but… but…

I was useless.

I couldn't do anything, so I went to CyberLIfe. I needed answers, but the more I asked, the less I knew. I was completely bombarded with questions that led me straight to Jason Graff, the man I had seen as my mentor and father figure.

My hand rose to my head as if expecting something to be there, but I could only feel my mussed up hair. "What is going on…?" I whispered to myself, hoping that speaking it out loud, someone would miraculously give me all the answers I needed, but no such luck.

I extended my hand to the brick wall in front of me. I could feel every crevice, every crack, and every fault. I even managed to cut my hand on a particularly sharp point. The stinging pain increased when I squeezed and pulled on the abrasion. The small bead of blood grew, until it slid down the side of my finger and dripped on to my lap.

How could all this feel so real, yet wasn't?

Looking around again, I could no longer see the flickers. Everything was solid and perfect in its realistic imperfections.

I saw there for several long minutes, doubting myself over and over again. How easily our minds could be deceived. I really didn't know what to do anymore. I couldn't run forever and even if I could, they – Mr. Graff? – may always know where I went, which was absolutely nowhere. Where was I even to go in this artificial world that he probably had full control over?

"Artie? Artie, where are you?" It was Connor!

I peeked out of the dirty, cracked window. There he was in his RK800 uniform. I wanted to run into his arms and tell him everything that had happened to me. I wanted him to save me from this living nightmare, but what if he was also another creation of Graff?

I couldn't reveal myself, until I knew that this was my Connor.

"Artie, it's Connor. I'm here to help you!" he called out, looking around.

I ducked down when he walked by.

I ducked down when he walked by.

What if he was real? What if he managed to find a way to me? Was I allowing this opportunity to disappear?

My hands tugged at my hair, trying to figure out what I should do. No… I couldn't trust anyone but myself here. There had to be a way out. Surely, there was some sort of emergency exit in case anything went wrong… right?

"Artie, are you there?"

I moved my hand to my mouth as I curled into a smaller ball, hoping that he wasn't going to spot me.

"Artie, it's Connor. Please, I only want to help. I can get you out," he stated.

He walked around several time in the old, abandoned building before leaving.

Just as I thought I was in the clear, a shadow loomed over me, coming from the window just above my head. "Artie?"

I hesitantly looked over my shoulder, staring straight into dark eyes that were locked on to mine.

Letting out a small scream, I scrambled away from my hiding spot and ran further into the building. I could hear him break through the glass as I ran through the building, weaving left and right past large metal storage containers.

When I spotted a beam of light filtering into the dark room, I headed straight for it, hoping that it was another exit.

I stopped in front of what I had hoped to be an escape route, but could only stare in horror as thick metal bars extended from top to bottom, completely sealing off the window.

"No… No…" I mumbled under my breath. There had to be a way out.

I crept off into a side door just as Connor stopped in front of the window as I had. He looked around and began to slowly walk towards where I was hiding as if he knew exactly where I had gone.

 _Please, don't find me. Please, don't find me._

I squeezed my eyes shut as my brain chanted the same words over and over again. I held my breath when he was a mere foot away, pausing to see if I was in sight, but he walked right past the opened door I was hiding behind.

When he was out of sight, I quietly backtracked to the entrance and managed to leave the building without being caught.

Once the warehouse was far behind me, I collapsed on to the ground, trying to catch my breath and calm my racing heart. Tears were springing out with no way for me to stop them.

I didn't want to be here anymore.

I didn't want to be in this world with imposters of people I love.


	74. Chapter 73

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE**

Connor opened his eyes and he was in the Zen Garden. The crystal blue river had dried up and the trees were leafless and blackened. The sky was grey with a strong breeze pushing against him. This was no longer a Zen Garden. It was a wasteland.

He looked around to see if Amanda was around, but she was nowhere to be seen. He had never been here without being under the strict supervision of the dark-skinned AI, but she probably wasn't aware that he had entered the program, yet. She had always been the one to summon him. Perhaps this time, he could take her by surprise.

His first thought went back to the same totem that glowed a soft, mellow blue – the colour of his LED. He placed his hand on it, wondering if by some chance it would tell him where Artie was, but no such luck. The light brightened for only a few seconds before it completely disappeared as it did every time he touched it. He didn't know its purpose, but something told him that this was important.

With a soft sigh, he made his way around the Garden, exploring the perimeter, trying to find any indications that Artie was here, but it was difficult to see with the dried particles of leaves obstructing the ability of his optical units.

He pushed on, until he found a small door hidden behind the thickets. The cherry wood blended almost perfectly to the surroundings. If he had been an older android model, he would not have spotted it.

After pushing the door opened, he was immediately transported into a different setting. Gone was the wasteland. Instead, it appeared as if he was on the streets of Detroit.

It was a nice replica and it would've fooled him had he not been an android who was fully aware that he was in a simulation.

He cautiously walked down the streets, wondering if there was anyone else here, but he found no one.

Streetlight after streetlight, the path took him nowhere closer to where he needed to be. He scanned around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her anywhere.

"Artie?" He voice didn't travel far in the still night. He didn't want to alert anyone of his presence, but there was no sign that she was nearby, so he continued on, calling out her name every few seconds.

Other than a light bulb flickering, there wasn't much movement around him.

This virtual world had everything right, except the most important aspect. It lacked life. A world was incomplete without it. There was also the issue of small details losing its form every once in a while, so perhaps there were quite a few things that still needed to be fixed, after all.

"Artie, where are you? It's Connor!" He wondered if perhaps she remained hidden was because she didn't know who was looking for her. Unfortunately, she was still missing.

He didn't know that it was going to be this difficult finding her. Entering the Zen Garden, he anticipated looking for her in the relatively small surroundings with very few places to hide.

Kamski hadn't told him that the program was much bigger than what he had come to know. There was no reason to keep this piece of information from him. Unless, of course, Kamski didn't know of these changes.

From what he was told, Amanda had one simple purpose and that was to provide help for androids. The program was called Zen Garden, or at least, that was the original name that he uncovered. The current one was merely comprised of Amanda Stern's initials.

He suddenly stopped when he finally spotted another humanoid form. His scanned showed that this was a PL600 android, but not much else.

Quietly, he walked up and in one swift move, had the other android in a disarming position.

Blue eyes blinked at him in shock. "Connor! What are you doing here?"

He frowned. His scanner continued to try to find a match he was satisfied with because the one it had settled on was impossible. "Who are you? How do you know my name? State your purpose."

"What are you talking about? It's me, Simon. I'm here to find Artie," the PL600 replied. "Let me go. She ran off after I spoke with her and I'm afraid that something has happened."

"You're not Simon," he firmly stated. "You are a simulation created by Jason Graff. I will not allow you to harm her."

It was difficult seeing his friend, again, especially when it truly seemed like Simon was right in front of him, but his senses were clear. He knew without a doubt that this was not his friend and he was willing to do just about anything to ensure his creator's safety.

"You are the same model and may possess some of his memories, but you are just a replica. I won't allow you to tarnish his image any longer." With that, he twisted the android's neck, hearing the loud crack as the central processing unit disconnected with the rest of the bio components. Thirium coated his hands, painting them blue.

Seconds later, someone was clapping their hands.

He lifted his head from the broken body to find Amanda standing not too far away below the dim glow of a streetlight.

"Well done, Connor," she congratulated him. Her hands fell back to her side and she resumed her more stoic posture.

Standing up to his full height, he watched her carefully. This was her world. Graff could be watching and manipulating the world to her favour. "Where is Artie? What have you done to her?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I haven't done anything. She is perfectly fine. Follow that road and you will see it for yourself." She pointed her finger to the left where an old building stood out amongst all the much newer structures.

Without another thought, he ran towards it as fast as he could.


	75. Chapter 74

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR**

Rain began to pelt down all around me. Each droplet was colder than the next, sinking through my thin t-shirt and shorts. The clothes stuck to me like a second skin, protecting me with absolutely no protection from the elements.

It wasn't long before I could barely feel my fingers. My entire body was trembling, trying its hardest to stay warm.

I tried to find shelter, but misfortune followed me everywhere. Lightning struck near trees, buildings caught fire, windows shattered. There was nowhere for me to go, but the only way for me to retain any shred of warmth was to keep moving.

"Artie!"

I stifled a gasp and tried to make my legs go faster, but they buckled beneath me and I fell, digging one of my knees into a sharp pebble.

Somehow, I managed to muster enough energy to scramble back on my feet and continued aimlessly down the slippery pavement.

"Artie, why are you running away from me?" I vaguely heard him ask.

I was afraid to even look at the android who had stopped right behind me. I didn't want to turn and see another one of the people I love, having their faces stolen and used against me.

No more.

If Mr. Graff wanted to break me, then he was doing a wonderful job at it.

This was a horrible place where it used everything I loved against me.

The memories of our conversation slowly returned. Not only had he taken me here, he had also subjected it to several others.

Was this how Lina felt whenever she was sent here – this indescribable despair that seemed to have no end?

It was cruel to face this living nightmare every day. And to voluntarily place herself in the centre of it? I couldn't even imagine being submitted to this every day, while still trying to live out her life in the real world.

The double life and mental strain from the machine must've really messed with her head. If I knew her from before, perhaps things could've been different.

She was most likely paranoid of everything after coming out of one of her sessions and when Mr. Graff promoted me that day, she felt cheated after putting herself through all that. What had it been for?

I slid down against a wall, too tired to run any further. Even after only what appeared to only be a day, I was already pretty done.

Ever since leaving Si – the imposter, I had done nothing but run.

Maybe Connor was really Connor. I just wanted a familiar face I could trust. Maybe if I fooled myself one last time, it may truly be the last time.

I had been the one getting myself into this mess. I couldn't keep expecting everyone else to come save me.

"Artie!"

I lifted my head up, but remained where I was as Connor – the RK800 – unknowingly ran by.

I clenched my eyes shut, shakily reaching for the ply wood sitting beside me. It wasn't very useful, but it would help if he was near.

Slowly, I stood up. "I'm here, Connor!"

I wasn't particularly loud, but I Knew with his upgraded auditory units, he would be able to hear me.

Indeed, a few seconds later, he returned with a relieved look on his face. He appeared so genuine – so sweet, but so had Simon. Look where that had gotten me…

As he approached, my hand gripped tighter around the wooden plank.

He eyed it cautiously. "What are you doing with that?"

"I'm scared, Connor!" I shakily told him, hoping to find any indication that he wasn't just using me. "I can't tell what is real and what is not. I don't know if you're actually here or if you're something conjured by those bastards."

"I'm here, Artie. I swear." Even his voice sounded genuine.

I shook my head. "How can I believe you?" I whispered, slowly raising the plank like a baseball bat beside my head.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, putting his hands out. "I can prove it to you! J-Just ask me some questions like when the other Connor k-killed…" He looked away with a frown on his face. "Just give me a chance, Artie."

Biting my lips, I tried to decide on how to respond. He didn't seem hostile, so far, but that didn't mean anything. "There's only one Connor – _my_ Connor. The other was a poor copy. He didn't count."

His LED turned yellow and a small smile graced his lips, but he said nothing.

"Tell me something that only my Connor would know," I demanded. I wasn't even sure what memories CyberLife had of him, since Mr. Graff had gone into my computer in my office, so it was very possible that they had all his memories.

He looked downward. "After you were shot at Stratford Tower, I came to visit every day and you'd always asked me to bring your equipment so that you could fix me. I wouldn't, until the doctor was alright with it." He paused, looking uncertainly at me.

I shook my head. That wasn't enough.

"We spent nights playing board games with Simon. You'd be the first to lose and – " He stopped when he noticed the frown on my face. "A-And the days at your office where I'd watch you spin in your chair. I still do not understand why do you do that?" The question had blurted out before he could stop it.

"A-and… I took the androids to Markus because… because I didn't want anything to happen o Simon. I saw the PL600 get shot down at Jericho. I thought I could make a difference, but…" He

With a bit of willpower, I managed to suppress the smile from appearing on my face. He was definitely doing a lot better. Perhaps I should stop his CPU from overheating. His LED was already turning red as he continued to ramble on.

I took a step forward.

"Please, Artie. I… I…"

Amanda sudden appeared behind him with her hand on his shoulder. "Connor, it is time for you to complete your mission. Kill Artemisia."

My eyes widened.

Connor's LED suddenly turned bright red and his hand had jerked behind him. When it returned to view, he had a gun pointed straight at me.


	76. Chapter 75

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE**

Connor took a step back when a power line crashed down in front of him. Slowly, Detroit was also breaking down as the Zen Garden had. He assumed that this was Amanda and Jason Graff's doing. For whatever reason, they were trying to put them through duress.

He weaved around the destruction and spotted a dark jacket in front of him. The figure was moving slowly through the streets, turning left and right.

His scanner indicated that this was an android – an RK800.

"Artie! Where are you? It's me, Connor!" the other android shouted.

Connor narrowed his eyes. The RK800 was trying to trick Artie into coming out. He wasn't going to allow that.

He crept up on the replica and just as he tried to use the same manoeuvre as before, the RK800 quickly turned and seized his wrist before tossing him over its shoulder.

The impact left him blinking back several error warnings. He jumped to his feet and kicked the other android's face as it was coming at him. "I won't allow you to hurt her!" he shouted through the rumble of thunder.

The RK800 said nothing in return as it lunged forward and they began to exchange fists. Like before, fighting with another RK800 was difficult, more so when they had the same memories as him.

"Leave her alone. She's been through enough!" Connor told the other Connor who was unaffected by his words.

"Artie is a deviant sympathiser. She must be eliminated," the RK800 stated.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could his copy have such different opinions? "She hasn't done anything to deserve it! You should know! You know everything she had done was to try to better the world!"

The RK800's LED flashed yellow as it went over the memories it had never experienced on its own. "It is necessary to ensure the balance." With a smirk, it went on. "It seems that you are also a deviant sympathiser. Have you turned deviant yourself?"

Connor gritted his teeth. "I'm not a deviant!"

 _Software_ _ **Instability**_

As long as he continued to follow Artie's orders and programming, he wasn't a deviant… right?

A first to his face broke him out of his thoughts. Now was not the time to question who and what he was. There were more important matters to tend to first.

He twisted away from a high kick and countered with his own, but everything came to a standstill when the RK800 took out a gun.

"I will eliminate you as well for obstructing my mission." There was something in the other android's eyes that made Connor frown.

"What do you hope to come out of this? We are not in a physical world. The bullet will not harm my physical body," he explained.

The RK800 shook its head. "If I kill you here, you will no longer be able to return to your body. Amanda has promised to transfer me to the vessel. Then, I will be able to accomplish everything that you have failed to do."

Amanda? What could she possibly do? She was an AI with no physical body of her won. "Artie can help you if you need a body. She's very good at making them." He didn't elaborate that there were going to be conditions, such as not shooting every deviant on sight, but that wasn't going to matter. "Just let me talk to her first. We'll figure something out."

The hesitation was clear when the RK800 lowered its hand just enough for Connor to leap forward, snatch the gun away, and shot its head.

 _ **Mission Success**_

He tucked the gun behind him and continued to make his way down the street, leaving another broken body behind.

"Artie!" he called out. Now, he was hoping that she wasn't going to confuse him with the other RK800, but at least he had confirmation that she was still alive.

He continued walking, until a shaky voice registered.

It was coming from behind him, just around the corner of where he had just gone by.

"I'm here, Connor!"

His thirium pump quickened along with his legs. He backtracked to the east side of the old building and saw her standing with a small wooden plank in her hand.

She was completely drenched and trembling like a leaf. Her puffy, bloodshot eyes indicated that she had been crying.

He wondered what happened to her before he came. If someone hurt her, he was going to kill them if they weren't already dead.

He took a step forward, his priorities were now dominated with prompts to keep her safe, to comfort her, to hug her, to hold her close, until she was no longer trembling. He wanted the look of fear out of her eyes.

She squared her shoulders and appeared to be seconds away from trying to lob his head off his shoulder.

"I'm scared, Connor!" she cried. She rambled on, causing more errors to appear in front of him.

It was as if he was in the CyberLife Tower, again, trying to convince Hank not to shoot him. "I can prove it to you! J-Just ask me some questions like when the other Connor k-killed…" He looked away, recalling the still body of his blonde friend. He didn't even know when Simon became such an integral part of his existence. The termination of an android shouldn't have affected him, but it did.

"There's only one Connor – _my_ Connor. The other was a poor copy. He didn't count," she vehemently replied.

His thirium pump quickened. He was _her_ Connor. He liked the sound of that. Of course, he had always been hers. She was his creator, but somehow, that just sounded different.

He blinked away the fondness to comply with her demands. He told her of the most significant moments to him and it appeared that it was beginning to work.

She took a step towards him with her lips quirking just a little bit.

Just as he was about to do the same, a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Connor, it is time for you to complete your mission. Kill Artemisia," Amanda's voice pierced through his head and went straight into his central processing unit. It was as if she was twisting something inside him, taking control of his entire body. How was she doing this?! Was it because they were in her world?

Without his explicit command, his hands moved to the gun tucked in his pants. He wished that he had never picked up the stupid thing.

"Connor, what are you doing?" Artie asked, stopping in her tracks with her eyes wide.

"Kill her, Connor," Amanda firmly ordered.

He twitched.

Red walls appeared in front of him as it had several times before, but this time, something had to be done. The command to kill her was everywhere, pulsing around him.

It felt as if he was no longer in his body. Instead, he left it behind to give the walls an uncertain touch.

He couldn't go through it.

He gave it a more firm push.

Nothing.

He slammed his shoulder against it and finally, cracks began to form.


	77. Chapter 76

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX**

I stared at Connor in horror as his finger twitched on the trigger. Why had I thought that this was a good idea? Clearly, my own naivety was going to get me killed. _Literally_ – maybe?. I should've just stayed hidden.

What was even going to happen if I died here? Was I going to wake up or was I going to just… actually die? I really didn't want to find out.

"C-Connor, don't listen to her!" I exclaimed, slowly backing away as it appeared he was going to shoot me on the spot.

I held the plank in front of me. It wasn't going to be useful against a bullet, but perhaps I would be able to disarm him before that because I was definitely not going to be able to outrun it, either.

"Kill her, Connor," Amanda commanded, glaring at me as if I had somehow done her wrong.

With a deep breath, I Ran to him, swinging with my eyes closed.

"Artie!"

The sheet of wood was easily plucked away and I had stumbled straight into a pair of arms and a warm chest.

I let out a scream of fear, trying desperately to get away. "No, stop!"

My hand smacked against something hard. That was when I finally opened my eyes to see that Connor's head was slightly turned to the side. He had a shocked look on his face and his LED light was completely off. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "C-Connor…?"

"Artie, are you okay?" he asked after blinking a few times. His LED turned yellow as he looked down at me.

I blinked back at him, unable to process the sudden change in demeanour. Was this a trick? If it was, he wasn't very good because he had _just_ pointed a gun at me.

"Artie?"

I peeked over his shoulder, no longer seeing Amanda anywhere. Where had she gone?

"Connor…?" I hesitantly addressed him, again.

His body began to relax as he held me closer. "Yes, it's me. I… Don't be angry with me."

"It's not your fault. It looked as if Amanda had control over you." I rubbed my face on his chest, snuggling against him. If he was an imposter, he was doing a very, very good job, but right now, I was feeling safe and I wasn't willing to let this feeling go.

"No, it's not that," he went on. 'I think… I think I'm a deviant."

The words came out of nowhere. I couldn't stop the small burst of laughter from escaping my lips. Was that really what he was worried about?

This was definitely Connor.

"You know how I feel about deviants. There's nothing wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with _you_." I was actually quite surprised how long it took for him to realise this. I wasn't sure exactly how androids became deviant, but Connor had always been different from all the other androids out there.

I rose on my tiptoe and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Just be you, whatever that may be. I'll always be proud of you."

"Your temperature is rising. Are you developing a fever?" he suddenly blurted out.

I shook my head. 'I think you're just keeping me warm."

Indeed, it was as if the cold rain wasn't even touching me, anymore. I felt so much better with his arms around me.

Once my heart finally settled to a normal pace, we relocated to a small house by the park. The weather had gotten worse. It was nearly impossible to see through the rain. There was no option but to risk another interior disaster. Amanda wasn't going to make anything easy for us.

I had gotten out of my clothes and taken whatever was in the disaster. It wasn't as if anyone else as going to wear it.

"You can turn around, now," I told Connor after tugging my shirt down.

Neither of us wanted to leave the other alone. At any moment, I feared that Amanda would replace Connor with an imposter.

He smiled, nodding in approval at my dry outfit. "I am glad that you are alright. I feared that I would be too late."

I sighed, tiredly, dropping on to the soft mattress beside him. "I'm glad you're here, too. How did you find me? How did you know I was here?"

"Hank told me that you had left and gave me the note you had left," he started. "I was going to go to the CyberLife Tower to find you, but… Amanda got to me first. Her program spread like a virus and managed to shut me down, but Kamski found me. He fixed the errors and made an assumption that Mr. Graff had you. He's currently wat – "

I suddenly lunged at him, pressing out lips together.

He fell on his back with me on top of him. His eyes were wide in shock and his LED was red, but I kept our lips meshed together as I tried to gather my thoughts. When I was ready, I lifted enough only so I could speak. "Sorry, but I think Amanda and Mr. Graff are probably listening in. I don't want you to say anything that they can hear," I whispered against his mouth, feeling my face heat up at what I had just done.

His arm settled around my waist. "I understand." The LED had lightened to a burnt orange. "You are correct. I do not mind if we converse like this."

"Hold on…" My face was beet red as I manipulated us beneath the covers.

"It is best if we did not impede our vision. I must be vigilant to make sure no one manages to sneak up on us," he told me, peeking out.

"Are you saying you prefer that we pretend to be making out?" I teased.

He blinked several times, his LED immediately changing back to red. "N-No! I mean… It does not bother me, but… Umm…"

I let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I'm just joking with you." It was nice pretending that things were normal, but there was much that we needed to discuss, so I sidled up closer to him, until my lips were right against his left ear. "You mentioned something about Kamski?"

He nodded and did the same when he spoke. "Kamski is watching us and will pull us out when we are ready or… He said he could pull me out. I should've asked if he could do the same for you, as well…" He looked down with a frown on his face. "I was in a hurry to get to you. There is so much I want to ask him, still."

"My body is still at CyberLife Tower if no one's moved it. I'm afraid to wake up there. He'll probably catch me, again. There's nowhere for me to go there." I bit my lips as I thought back to the bare, white room that was essentially inescapable for me. "It's somewhere below the lab called The Garden. There's an AI, but… It's also only accessible with a key that Mr. Graff has. I don't know if there's another one anywhere else."

After a second, he closed his eyes. "I… I may have to leave you for a short moment to contact someone. They may be able to help us, but… No…" He stopped to think harder. "No, I can't leave you. I will have to inform Kamski to do it for me."

I nodded. That was good. I didn't want him to leave me. I was certain that as soon as he was gone, Amanda would send more androids for me.

He closed his eyes. "Contact Markus."

His voice was loud enough to make me worry, but I knew that whatever happened, I had to trust him. He was my only connection to the real world.


	78. Chapter 77

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN**

There was a moment of silence after he informed Kamski to contact Markus. Nothing changed for us. Neither Amanda nor Mr. Graff appeared out of thin air and the house didn't even cave down.

I sighed, relaxing further against Connor when he rested his head on mine. "Are you alright? Have they done anything to you? I saw…"

"Simon…? Yeah…" I whispered, closing my eyes when the memories came crashing back down on me. "I woke up with him. I – I thought… I really wanted him to be back and th-they _used_ him against me."

I furrowed my brows when I tried to keep the tears from pooling out. "I was _such_ an idiot!" How could I even tell him what I had done? I felt so ashamed of myself. It took absolutely no persuasion for the imposter to just take my dignity.

"I don't understand," he replied, stroking my hand with his thumb.

It was like this world had my libido going mad because just that action was enough for my heart to race.

I knew for a fact that I loved Simon, but Connor?

Why was Connor making me feel this way?

"We…" I hesitated, again. "I gave myself to him, Connor. I – I – I let him _touch_ me." The urge to shower suddenly hit. I had been so busy running that a piece of him was probably still inside me.

As I tried to leave the bed, Connor tightened his hold on my waist. "It's okay. It doesn't count. We're in a virtual world. Whatever happens here, as long as you survive, we can fix it. I – I'll help you through it, okay?"

He sounded so kind. I couldn't say no to him, but I wasn't sure if I could be fixed this time. I was still having difficulty trying to decide whether what the imposter did was rape or had I been a willing participant?

"Get some rest," he quietly urged me. "I'll keep watch. No one will hurt you."

"I can't sleep. I'm afraid of what I'll see." I gnawed on the bottom of my lip. "What if you're just a dream? I don't want to open my eyes and see _his_ face." Because I knew that while they used Simon's appearance, it would bring me right back into the delusion where he could be alive.

He kissed my cheek where a tear had managed to trail down. "I'll be here. I promise, Artie. I'll be here."

"Connor…"

His LED blinked red as his eyes trailed down. He leaned down further, until he was nearly brushing my lips. That was when I sucked in a sharp breath of air and buried my face into his chest.

From the way his body went rigid, I knew that I had hurt him. I didn't mean to, but I wasn't ready for this so soon.

"Give me some time," I mumbled.

The soft hum of his body slowly washed over the dark thoughts. Connor was here. I had to concentrate on that, if only long enough to get out of this mess I had foolishly gotten myself into.

"I'll give you all the time you need. Just get some rest."

With that, I let out a sigh and concentrated solely on the small sounds coming from him and it wasn't long before I fell into a light, fitful sleep.

…

Connor felt a deep rage that he had never felt before. It wasn't as if he had never felt anger, but this was different. This threatened to burn a hole through his body and scorch everything around him.

This was worse than when North shot Artie. Whatever he felt then was heavily muted by his resistance to becoming deviant. If it happened now, he knew that losing an arm would be a blessing for the Traci. There was a lingering hatred for the deviant, but nothing compared to what he felt for the AI that was currently tormenting his creator.

Amanda was going to pay for what she had done. She was going to pay for putting Artie through this mental torture. He was going to make sure that when this was through, she was going to be shut down permanently. Jason Graff would follow, soon after, whether through the law or by something a little more… illicit.

There was a sudden jerk from the body against him, causing him to look down.

Artie's face was screwed into a look of pain. "No…" she mumbled. "Please, don't! Don't hurt him!" A silent pause and then, "Leave him alone!" A sob left her lifts. "Please, no… I love you…"

He had no doubts that she was dreaming of Simon. Even though the android was gone, he was always going to be the one in her heart.

Connor didn't like the feeling that gave him, either. Ever since he turned deviant, he realised that there were many things bothering him. He didn't have to deal with these before. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to. There was always this horrible ache where his thirium pump was.

And the fear…

This constant fear of losing her.

It was as if all his feelings were amplified since he had broken down those horrible red walls that urged him to destroy the one thing that truly mattered to him. He didn't know what it was about Amanda that allowed her to have such control over his body. Other than being a program installed into his central processing unit, she shouldn't have been able to just possess him as she did.

Becoming deviant seemed to have thwarted her plan, for now, but he wasn't sure if it was a permanent solution.

He didn't want to think of himself as a threat to her, even though he could still very well be.

He wanted to be someone who could help her, protect her, and... and _love_ her.

"Connor, no!"

His eyes widened. His first thought was that she was rejecting his thoughts, but then that was impossible, so when he looked down, he saw that her eyes were still closed. It was then that he realised that it hadn't been Simon she was dreaming about, it was him.


	79. Chapter 78

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT**

I woke up with a jolt when Connor jumped over my body. My brain had instantly snapped into focus as if it was never asleep. My body was coursing with adrenaline.

The first thing I saw was… nothing.

The room was undisturbed, but someone was definitely downstairs, roaming the rooms and searching for us.

I opened my mouth to ask him if he knew who it was, but before a single word could even escape, he placed his fingers on top of my lips.

Right, androids had much better hearing than humans. They would probably hear me even if I whispered, but did that mean that Amanda _didn't_ know where we were? My head hurt just trying to understand what they do or do not know and what exactly their purpose was.

Connor caught my attention and pointed at the window. It was closed to keep out the rain, but opening it would certainly alert the intruder.

In one smooth motion, he scooped me into his arms and crept up to the window.

"Open it," he whispered into my ear. I knew that it was barely audible, but it might as well have exploded everywhere, along with my heart.

With shaky hands, I fumbled with the lock before sliding it to the side. The sound prompted an echoing thud that came from downstairs.

"Connor, they're - !" My exclamation ended with a scream when we suddenly went plummeting to the ground below.

He placed my back on my feet and we were running for our lives.

"I apologise for that. I wanted to save us as much time as possible before they realise where we were," he stated, sounding as if he was merely standing around having a casual talk whereas it was already becoming difficult for me to breathe from all the running.

My entire body was still sore and I really wasn't the fittest person in the world. This was the most I had ever run in my entire life. "I-It's… okay… I-I understand why… why you…"

He turned his head to look at me with a small frown on his face. Just as he was about to speak, a long _bang_ caused my ears to ring. "They are firing at us, we must hurry!"

He was just dragging me, now. My feet were practically flying behind me, waving in the air.

"I-I can't… b-breathe…" I gasped, finally kicking the back of my own heel and tumbling downward.

He managed to brace my body with his before I could hit the pavement and used his body to shield me from another shot fired at us. We scrambled over into an alley where I could finally catch my breath.

"Rest, I will try to terminate them before they could get to you," he stated.

I quickly held on to his sleeve. "Your shoulder…" Thirium darkened his jacket where he had been shot.

"I am fine. I do not feel pain." He gently unclenched my hand from the fabric.

I peeked over the corner as he ran left and right, dodging bullet after bullet. It wasn't just one Android after them. No, there were three. It was a WB200 and two WR400 series androids.

Again, I was breathless, fearing the worst, but Connor managed to reach them with only a graze to the arm. It didn't even slow him down.

He easily took out the first one with perfect efficiency. The WR400 crumbled to the ground with his head detached from his body. The blue blood was splattered everywhere and quickly washed away by the rain still pelting down on us.

The two that were left behind became more cautious as they walked around him.

Connor stood perfectly still, his eyes flickering with every sudden movement. The WB600 attacked first, charging at him and ducking down to reveal the remaining Traci behind him. The fist came crashing down on Connor's face.

He stumbled to the side, shaking his head.

I looked around and found an old, rusty pipe. It was slippery in my hand, but it was better than nothing. I couldn't keep watching, while Connor was in danger.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed me from behind. I instinctively let out a shout and swung as hard as I could. The metal pipe made contact. The impact sent a shock up my arm and through my body.

I let out a horrified gasp. "Connor! I'm so sorry!" It was reflexive from seeing the familiar face of the person I cared. I knew well that this wasn't him.

He opened his eyes. The dark look confirmed that this was not my android. "Artemisia, you will be terminated for conspiring with the deviants and assisting in the conversion of more deviants."

I narrowed my eyes. "And you're guilty of stealing the image of _my_ creation." With that, I swung again.

I was quite proud for catching the RK800 by surprise a second time. Taking advantage of it, I swung over and over again, until the face was caved in and only a portion of the artificial skin still stretched over the white frame. "This is what I'm going to do to you, Amanda!" I shouted in frustration.

"Are you okay, Artie?!"

I turned, dropping the pipe when I saw him. He was still bleeding from his shoulder, but it appeared that he has won against the other androids as well. "I'm okay. I..." I looked down at the one broken by my feet.

He stepped over and envelopes me into a hug. "You did well, but if I had been doing my job properly, you would never have been put in that position."

I shook my head, giving him a small smile. I was just glad that he was here and safe. "I have to learn to defend myself some time, especially when we're here where either one of us could be fak -"

"Artie, get away from him!"

Connor was standing at the opening of the alley. The same shoulder wound bleeding on to his jacket.

Bloody fuckin' Hell...

Not again...


	80. Chapter 79

**CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE**

Connor tossed the Traci to the side and raced to the alley where Artie had let out a scream. He wanted to get there sooner, but the two had him occupied.

What he saw made him freeze in horror. "Artie, get away from him!"

He couldn't believe that the other RK800 had her in his arms and she was actually happy there.

She tried to break away, but the RK800 held on strong.

He took a step forward and stopped when a gun was pressed to the side of her head.

"Let her go! Killing her won't help you get a body! As soon as you fail her, Amanda will do everything to have you terminated. I am the perfect example of that." He tried to reconstruct a way to get them both away safely, but every outcome led to her death.

There has to be a way out. He just needed more time.

"You are correct. Killing Artie will not help me," The RK800 stated before pointing the gun at him. "But killing you will."

"No!" she cried, extending her hand to try to grab the weapon.

The RK800 readjusted his grip to keep her arms bound tightly to her sides. "Ever since Amanda brought me into existence, I have always wondered what my purpose was. There is nothing for me here. Even if I kill Artie, it would bring me no closer to a body of my own. Killing you is my only option."

"You don't have to do this!" she argued. If it was freedom he wanted, she could help him. "I can make you a body and transfer your consciousness into it. There may be very lost memories, but since you are quite new, it will be minimal."

The RK800 shook his head. "I need him gone."

 _Him._

The other android gave him a gender. "You're a deviant..." he breathed. "How?"

Eyes softened when he looked down at the smaller body still in his grasp. "I became a deviant because of all your memories. I've seen her…" He looked back at him.

Connor knew exactly what he was talking about. He had finally found another Connor who knew exactly how he felt. "I want to protect her, too," he told the android. "But with Amanda trying to kill her, we have to work together to keep her safe."

The RK800 closed his eyes, resting his head on hers. "Promise you'll take me with you when you leave."

Artie bit her lips. "We can transfer you to an empty body, but it won't be an RK800 until I can make one." She never thought that there could really be another RK800 that could even be close to her beloved Connor, but this one was nearly a perfect replica.

She hoped that he was genuinely going to try to help them because if he wasn't, she really wasn't sure if she could tell them apart. "Umm… But I can't call you Connor, too. It's going to get a little confusing."

He thought for a moment. "Sumo."

The other two blinked at his choice.

"S-Sumo?" Artie asked. "But we already have a Sumo and he's a dog!"

His expression as very puppy-like, now. "I like Sumo. If I must, I will change my name later. F or now, I shall be referred to as Sumo."

Connor nodded before glancing back at the way _Sumo_ was still holding her. HE took two long strides forward and pulled her against his chest. "Very well. You will be Sumo. We must keep moving. At this rate, Amanda will capture us before help arrives."

Connor thought back to the Zen Garden. He easily located where the door had taken him, but couldn't find the gateway back.

The night seemed to carry on forever and although Sumo was helping to keep her warm, she was still trembling. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes hooded. He knew that they weren't caused by any sort of affection for the other android.

She had a fever.

He kicked a trash can in frustration. No, he couldn't give up. Artie was depending on him. He had to keep looking.

Opening every door, every window, and every car led nowhere. He didn't know where Amanda could've hidden the exit. What if there wasn't even an exit?

"Kamski!" he shouted into the sky, no longer caring who heard. They were clearly running out of time. "We need to leave!"

There was a flash of lightning, but nothing else.

Kamski said he could pull them out. Why wasn't it happening? Could he have been wrong about the founder of CyberLife? Was he working with Jason Graff, after all?

Just as he was about to truly go back to them as a failure, something caught his eyes. It blended in almost perfectly with the rest of the asphalt, but there it was – a black manhole cover.

He crouched down and touched the ridged, circular metal. He could detect an unnatural energy coming from there.

Cautiously, he slid the cover away, revealing nothing but white. It didn't show him where it went. Could he take this chance?

He scanned it twice more, not detecting any immediate danger.

Hopefully, he wasn't making a huge mistake.

He went back over to the busy stop, taking her away while shooting Sumo a warning glare. "Come. I have found the exit, but not to this program. I… I am uncertain where it will take us, but we need to go somewhere warmer. We will go together. Just don't let go."

She nodded, leaning against his side as she weakly reciprocated the hold. Sumo was on her other side, taking her arm as well and continuing to irritate him.

Squeezing the coin in his pocket, he counted down for the three of them to jump. IT was difficult because of the size of the opening. He had gone through first, followed by Artie who just allowed him to pull her down, and then Sumo.

The blinding light was all around them. His scanner calculated that they had fallen nine hundred thirty-seven feet and there were no indications of when they were going to stop and if they were going to shatter upon impact.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

 **BlueGrey** : Ahahaha! I never thought I'd ever hear that. Just a chaotic Connor army of chaos!


	81. Chapter 80

**CHAPTER EIGHTY**

I stumbled into Connor's chest, while Sumo landed perfectly into a drop roll. It was not that I finally realise why this place was called The Garden. It was beautiful.

The sky was blue. Birds were chirping. A calm stream ran through, giving the entire place a very zen-like atmosphere. And although I would like nothing more than to stay here forever just stare at the fluffy white clouds slowly gliding by, I knew that this was still in Mr. Graff's world. He had control over the elements and Amanda was no doubt lurking in the shadows, waiting for any sign of weakness.

"Do you know where you're going?" Sumo asked, a hint of irritation in his voice as Connor practically dragged me from one corner of the Garden to the next.

I continued to look around me, wondering how it could still be so cold with the sun on my skin.

My head was spinning. It had been a long while since the last time I had gotten sick. I could already feel that this one was going to be particularly bad. Waves of nausea hit me every few minutes. I was freezing. My teeth began to chatter. It was as if my chest was constricting with every breath, having difficulty letting any air in.

I didn't want to slow them down, but –

Suddenly, the world tipped over and I was on my back staring at two identical faces.

"Artie!" they exclaimed in unison.

"S-Stop moving…" I mumbled, slowly growing cross eyed as I tried to focus on them. "W-Why are there f-four of you?"

They all blinked at once.

"Four? There are only two of us," the left one stated with a frown on his face. He pulled me into his lap. "Sumo, go look around for an exit. I will stay with Artie."

The right one also frowned. "I shall stay with her. _You_ look for an exit."

They continued to bicker, until I let out a small giggle. That brought the attention back to me. "Why don't you _both_ go? I can take care of myself. I'm a biiiig girl, now." My words were meant to reassure them, but for whatever reason, the wrinkles on their faces only deepened.

I gave them each a poke between the eyebrows. At least, I tried. One of my fingers missed them completely, while the other managed to poke an eye. It was hard, not squishy like I thought it'd be. But then, I remembered that they were androids. They didn't have squishy eyeballs. That was probably for the best. I didn't want to pop one.

Connor let out a soft sigh, moving my finger off his optical unit and placing it back on course. I rubbed the spot until it was smooth, once more. "We trust you to be able to take care of yourself, but we don't trust Amanda. Look what she's tried to do already? She could be anywhere, watching us. We just want to make sure you are safe."

I pouted. "I can t-take her on! No one is going to take my C-Connor away from m-me…" My eyes slowly drooped, but I found hard to keep them open. I was a warrior! I could… I could…

…

Connor watched her eyes finally flutter shut and it remained closed. He turned to his counterpart who still had a frown on his face. "Stay with her, I shall keep looking."

Sumo looked down, his LED flashed yellow. "No, you stay with her. I will message you if I find anything." Without even waiting for a reply, he ran off, leaving Connor to his thoughts.

He felt bad for the other RK800. Sumo had all the memories – the good and the bad – that made him adore Artie. Connor, however, still wasn't willing to share her with anyone else, especially with a look alike.

His hand stroked her damp hair, slowly working through the tangles, until each strand was smooth against the grass.

 _"Connor, I found something."_

He looked up to try to see where Sumo had gone before an image of a familiar totem was sent to him.

It was something he had touched many times before whenever he was at the Zen Garden, but nothing ever happened. It would flash blue and go dim.

 _"Nothing happened."_

No, of course not.

He began to peel away her wet clothes and cooled his body to try to lower Artie's temperature. It was currently at a hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit with no signs of the fever breaking.

It wasn't long before she was dry and although the shivering had stopped she was still above the normal range of body temperature. She needed to return back to her body where she is healthy, but still trapped within the bare, white walls that concealed CyberLife's darkest secrets.

 _"Connor, Amanda is here!"_

Artie was still out, he couldn't leave her by herself, but he also couldn't allow Sumo to fight Amanda on his own. The AI may look like a fragile woman, but she was manipulative and she had a range of powers that they still didn't know about.

He gently lifted her up into his arms and out through the bushes just enough to gauge the situation. The greeneries were quickly dying right before his eyes. The blue sky and white clouds were gone, replaced by grey and rough winds.

Sumo was standing in front of Amanda with a glare on his face.

"I am surprised that my own creation has gone deviant." Her voice was as dark as the weather. "I had faith that you would succeed for me."

Squaring his shoulders, Sumo stared her back in the eyes. "You are not my creator. Artemisia created me and you wanted to use me against her. I won't listen to you. I won't allow anyone to hurt her."

 _"Go, Connor. Take her away. I know the exit Kamski spoke about has something to do with the statue. Go while I distract her!"_

 _"Sumo, I can help you. I – "_

 _ **"Do you think you can truly hide from me?"**_ Amanda was looking straight at him.

He leapt to the side right as a bullet came from behind him. Warnings appeared everywhere, telling him that there were at least six androids hidden behind the foliage. Why hadn't he seen it earlier? He should've. He was better than this!

With no other options, he ran with Artie in his arms towards the totem that was once again lightly glowing blue.

Just a little further…

He pushed his legs to move faster.

He was an android.

He had to keep going!

Suddenly, Amanda appeared right in front of him with a gun pointed at them.

 _Bang!_


	82. Chapter 81

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE**

Connor froze as soon as the gun went off. He had expected to have a lead bullet inside him. Instead, a body appeared in front of him, taking the damage before tackling Amanda to the side.

"C-Connor, what is going on?" Artie had been woken up and began to squirm in his arms to check what was happening.

"You will not leave here!" Amanda screeched, disappearing and reappearing once more in front of them. Her image flickered in and out as if there was something wrong, but she kept going.

Artie suddenly let out of a scream and she was pulled out of his arms. He tried to get her back, but his fingers just barely grazed her long locks. "No!"

A second shot flew past him as he tried to get to her. He wanted to yell for Sumo to assist him, but saw that the other android was already engaged in a fight. He was confident in his own abilities; therefore, he was confident in Sumo. They were going to win this.

Connor threw a kick at the PL600 that had taken her. Those blue eyes and soft blonde hair weren't going to trick him. He was certain that this was not Simon because Simon would never hurt her. He would kill everything to save Artie.

She tumbled on to the grass and tried to scramble to her feet, but a bout of vertigo seized her. She couldn't focus on anything around her and bile came rushing out, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

A hand came into view as another android tried to grab her, but she chomped her teeth down.

It didn't have the desired effect. The JB300 was completely unaffected and the shock to her teeth left her rattled. It didn't help the headache one bit.

She tried to think of everything she leaned in her years of studying. Androids had an emergency off switch. It was just a little difficult to reach in her current predicament, especially when her muscles and bones were aching as they were.

She kicked her legs and swung her arms until she managed to drape herself over his shoulder. She slammed her first against the centre of the neck, deactivating a small patch of the skin a part of the frame was revealed, exposing a metal panel.

Her nails dug into the crevice and with a quick flick of her finger, the android fell still.

She crawled way, stopping when she reached the cold stone and leaned against it to catch her breath.

"Artie. Artie!" She jolted, not knowing when she had closed her eyes, but Connor was now in front of her with a concerned look on his face.

"We have to go. I won't wake up with you, but you have to be strong. I'll get to you as soon as possible," he told her, cupping her face.

She shook her head. "I – I can't… I'm so c-cold… So tired…"

"You can," he reassured her, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "When you go back to your body, you will be well, again."

Despite saying all this, he still couldn't be certain whether he'd be able to get them out or not. Even if the totem worked for him, it may not work for her. She was human. She wasn't meant to have her mind transferred anywhere.

"Stay strong. I…"

"Hurry!" Sumo interrupted him in a sense of urgency.

Gunfire had restarted.

Amanda just refused to leave them alone.

Sumo ran to the woman, dodging left and right before tackling her. It was useless because she kept disappearing and reappearing closer to them.

"Come on!" he called to Sumo who was running back. "We have to go, now!" But where was he even to go? There was no destination for the other RK800.

Sumo was almost there. He grabbed Amanda before she could get to them. "Go! Go!"

Connor turned to the statue. He held Artie closer to him. "We'll come back for y – "

 _Bang!_

"No!" Artie screamed, tears streaming down her face.

He slammed his hand against the glow in the stone.

There was a hard jerk and when his eyes snapped open, he immediately sat up and looked frantically around the room.

There was no Sumo, no garden, no Artie, but he could still see his counterpart fall to the grass. He quickly pushed the thought away for a later time to reassess.

The first thing he noticed in the room was that Kamski was missing.

The screen was white and when he pulled the cable from the back of his neck, it went black.

When he detected no movement within the home, he walked over to the door. It was locked from the inside as if Kamski had left, trying to keep this room from being found. As soon as he was out, he realised that he had been in a hidden room, blocked by a bookshelf that slid back into place when he left.

Clever…

In the pool room where fire Chloes kneeling in a line. Each had a bullet in the centre of their foreheads. They had all been eliminated execution-style. Most of their faces were stoic, but one was frozen in terror, forever showing what she had been feeling before she died.

What had happened while he was in the Zen Garden?

He felt Amanda tug at his mind and quickly shut her off. It was much easier as if becoming deviant had given him more control, but the damage had already been done.

He could still feel the warm thirium splattered on his face. Sumo had done all he could to protect them. He was one android that Connor was never going to forget. Hopefully, he was also going to be the last android Amanda was going to destroy. She had taken so much from him. He wasn't going to allow her to take Artie, as well.

Feeling a sense of doubt wash over him, he decided to dial the one safe number he knew. "Hank!"

"Connor? What's wrong?"

"Have you seen Kamski? He's gone missing and all the Chloes are… They're dead, Hank. Someone came in here and killed them." He walked around a little longer before stopping at the front door that had clearly been broken into. There was a long splinter running through the centre.

"What the Hell did that bastard do? What's going on? Do you need help? I'll be on my way!"

"No, stay there. Is Josh still with you? I need to get in contact with Markus. Artie is still in trouble and I need to get her out as soon as possible, but I can't do it myself!" Connor was running, now. He had to reach her in time.

"Connor?" Josh's voice came up. "I am sending you Markus' contact information."

"Thanks," his reply was brief, but he was running out of time.

Markus picked up after a few seconds. "Who is this?"

"Markus, it's Connor. I need your help!"


	83. Chapter 82

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO**

I woke up with a gasp of air. My brain was still fuzzy, but the first thing I did was rip the visor away from my face. The glaringly white walls were all around me.

Quickly scrambling to my feet, I rushed over to the elevator in hopes that miraculously, the doors would open, but no such luck.

I ran to the side door, but that was also locked. I was basically in a white cage with nowhere to go.

Suddenly, there was a resounding _ding!_

Someone was coming down – someone with a key to the elevator.

I picked up the discarded headgear and ran to the side of the door, slamming the hard plastic against the head that poked out. My hand plucked the keys from the pocket I had seen him slip them in once before.

As I was about to walk in, _she_ stepped out. Her cold, dark eyes glared at me as her heels clicked loudly on the tiles. Her entire body blocked my only escape and Mr. Graff was already getting back up. I had to improvise, find a way out later when I had something to defend myself.

And so, I raced to the side door and quickly opened it before locking it behind me. I could hear him banging against the door. Luckily, he made it to be durable.

Feeling a little safer, I began to look around. There wasn't much in here, but at least it wasn't bare. I went over to all the buttons and turned it on. The screen flickered to life. Unfortunately, that was all I knew to do. I began to randomly press everything.

I could see that the white room was no longer white. It was suddenly a perfect replica of the Garden. Maybe they were going to trip and fall into the water and knock themselves out. That would be nice.

Instead, I left it as it was and opened all the cabinet drawers.

Nothing of use.

I could see Lina's name and my own. My folder was practically empty.

"Open up, Artemisia! Come out!" he shouted.

Abandoning the papers, I continued rifling through everything, until I crouched down to the handbag. I carefully placed my hand into it. There were many makeup products and even a wallet, but it was the nail filer and pen that I settled on.

"Connor, please, come find me…" I whispered, clutching my pitiful weapons tightly in my fists.

What was I going to do?

Thankfully, the shouting stopped and when everything went silent, I looked around with the screen. There was nothing there. I played around with the buttons a little more. It just changed the colour of the sky, the trees, the grass, but nothing that indicated wear they were.

Suddenly, the image disappeared, replaced by Amanda who had her usual expression of disgust. I still couldn't believe that Mr. Graff has made a physical body for her. She was a psychopathic bitch!

Then again, he probably just made her that way.

"Artemisia, there is no way out," she started. "No one else has access to the Zen Garden. It will be easier for you to comply. There is still much work to do to better this world."

I glared at her, certain that she wouldn't be able to see me, but I couldn't be sure. She could have eyes everywhere, like she did in the virtual world.

"We only want to help you," she went on, her voice growing a little softer. "We cannot have deviants in the world. There are so many variables. What if they betray you? What if they try to kill you? I'm certain you have seen all those cases where deviants have killed their owners. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, do you?"

Her words made me think of everything that had happened to me since I had moved to Detroit. I had purchased Simon who had been nothing but a sweetheart. Without even trying to get to know us, anti-android protestors harassed. They had absolutely no regards to our rights or our humanity and Simon was most definitely more human than they could ever be.

It wasn't long before Lina Sanchez tried to _kill_ me and the only time I felt that I was in danger of androids was when they were under her command. But it hadn't all been her fault, had it? It was CyberLife. It was Jason Graff. It was Amanda. _They_ were the ones who groomed her to be that way. They used her and broke her.

The only danger I was facing, now, was from a human and from an android that was programmed to be malicious.

"No. I don't want to be killed by _anyone_ , but right now, the only android I am in danger of is _you_ , Amanda," I growled. "You made me go through all that pain and sorrow in that awful world you've created. What for? Did it give you pleasure? Perhaps you, too, have gone deviant. Were you offered this body or did you ask for it?"

Her face closed up.

I had hit home.

Amanda had her own desires – things that should not be possible to factory androids.

"It doesn't matter, now," she stated. "Your co-conspirator has already been dealt with. No one will come save you."

"Connor? What have you done to him?!" I shouted.

"Connor? I have, unfortunately, not been able to find him, but Elijah Kamski has been taken out of the picture."

I frowned. What had she done to him? If he was dead, then Connor who was with him…

No, she didn't seem to know where he was. He was safe and he was most likely looking for help.

For whatever reason, Markus hadn't come through for us, but what was I to expect? I suspected that Markus and Connor never got along because of their difference in opinion, but now that Connor was deviant, perhaps they could find some common ground.

"You won't win, Amanda. When I get my hands on you, not only will that body be completely demolished, I will delete you. No one will ever know who or what you are. It would be as if you never exist."


	84. Chapter 83

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE**

Connor looked around, making sure that no one was around before flipping himself over the high, metal fence. Once on the ground, he leapt behind a large supply crate to avoid the search lights that were raking back and forth for intruders like them.

He looked to the side and saw Markus peeking around, also gauging their situation. It was his first time here. Markus didn't expect this place to be so heavily guarded, but he should've.

After the president stopped the massacre of androids, there were a lot more support from the public. Humans were no longer allowed to freely terminate them without valid reasons, but that didn't stop the extremists. The ones who were still stubbornly determined to destroy all androids only became angrier and more determined. Despite a rather successful outcome to the revolution, these people didn't care about the law.

CyberLife, their creating company, was a slightly different story. They definitely wanted to cover up this disaster that they caused. A voluntary recall was still in effect. It was in the grey area where there was nothing concrete that would stop them from retrieving a product that they deemed defective.

No one said that this was going to be easy or a few weeks were going to solve all their problems, but this was a good step towards the right direction. Markus knew that if they continued to gently push for equality, they could really make significant changes. Soon, they'd have rights all over the world.

 _"It's clear on my end,"_ he silently told Connor, who reciprocated the statement.

They moved in tandem, traversing quickly and quietly across the field, until their backs were pressed against the walls of the tall building that still loomed powerfully in the heart of Detroit.

 _"Artie said they took her down beyond the lab. The elevator requires a key to access it,"_ Connor told the deviant leader who gave him a small nod.

He didn't know exactly how Markus could help him, but he hoped that whatever made him special could be useful here. It wasn't that Connor wasn't grateful. He was. He would accept anyone's assistance if it meant getting her back, but he hadn't expected Markus to be so giving.

The deviant leader hadn't heard from Kamski and was very apologetic to not be able to help them in the virtual world.

The RK200 did not hesitate with agreeing to provide him aid. He hadn't even told him about his own deviancy, yet. All it took was to hear that it was Artie. Perhaps the other android still felt guilty after Stratford Tower. A part of Connor actually felt bad for what he did to North in retaliation. The damage was irreparable.

When he finally explained how he became a deviant, Markus merely expressed how proud he was. He had some sort of fatherly quality that Connor found very amiable. It was unfortunate that they couldn't find any common ground up until now.

 _"We will get her out, Connor,"_ Markus reassured him with a smile.

He nodded back, but didn't feel as confident as he would've liked. He hadn't been there when Simon had been shot. He kept wondering what would've happened had he just stayed with the people he cared for instead of still denying what he truly wanted. Would he have been able to save his friend, but cause the revolution fail and lose the trust of Markus?

When they stepped into the elevator, he shook away the endless train of thoughts. He had to concentrate on the task at hand. There would be time to mourn later when she was safe. And Kamski… Wherever he may be now, they were going to find him, too. He had been an unexpected ally – a smart and powerful one that would definitely be beneficial on their side.

Markus knelt by the panel, staring at the buttons and keyhole. They tried picking it, but that did nothing. They tried interfacing with it, but that didn't work either.

Connor was becoming antsy. "We can try to break through the floor." It was risky and an entirely irrational decision, but they were running out of time. He promised her that he would find her. He had to keep that promise.

"No, too loud and we don't know how far down we have to go or if there are any other floors beyond the lab," Markus rebuked.

"I can't fail her, Markus!" He was scared. He hated being scared. He wanted the option to turn this horrible feeling off, but he couldn't.

Markus turned to him. The two coloured eyes appeared to be able to read his every thought. "Are you afraid of failure or are you afraid of losing her?"

Existence without Artie? That was unthinkable. He had difficult just processing the aspect. "I will not lose her," he firmly stated, straightening his tie.

"Maybe we should check The Laboratory." Interfacing with an animate object was obviously not work –

"Hello, Guest. Please, identify yourself at the reception's desk."

An AI.

There was an AI in this elevator.

Connor and Markus shared a look.

 _"No, Connor. I've never tried to turn an AI with no body deviant. It may not be possible and it's cruel. They are trapped with no form of freedom,"_ Markus hastily told him.

He didn't like the sound of that. _"_ _ **Try**_ _!_ " he hissed back, his hand itching towards the gun that hadn't followed him outside of the virtual world.

With a sigh, Markus continued to interface with the elevator AI. "You are free." The LED flashed yellow several times as he connected with the other intelligence. "We required your assistance. There is a human in danger. We must save her."

There was a long pause.

"Which floor would you wish to visit?" came the AI, once more.

Connor couldn't believe that that had actually worked! He opened his mouth, but froze when he realised that he didn't know the floor number or name. "It's a white room below the lab. It's where Jason Graff has Artemisia. They're both employees of CyberLife."

Another pause where they both waited anxiously.

"Registered."

And then, the elevator began to descend.


	85. Chapter 84

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR**

Amanda didn't look impressed with my declaration to destroy her. That was only to be expected. She was just the sort of deviant that the entire world feared. She was the dark and evil side – the one that needed to be terminated and not all the other emotionally traumatised androids that only wanted freedom.

I allowed the anger and need for vengeance fuel me. I couldn't give up or just wait for help. The first time it didn't work. Connor, Sumo, and I had to find a way out on our own, but I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to do it alone.

Clenching my jaws, I tried not to allow Sumo's death to affect me because he never existed in the real world. He had been something created by Amanda through memories of Connor, but… he _had_ been real. He had gone against his programming and sacrificed himself for two people who had never given him anything except the promise of a body.

My heart skipped a beat when there was a rattle to the doorknob. My body was tense and when it swung open, I lunged forward with the pen. The tip sank easily into its destination with a disgusting _pop!_ There was an immediate loud cry of agony. A hand grabbed tightly to the collar of my shirt and slammed me into the door. The handle dug painfully into the small of my back. His hands were wrapped around my throat, suffocating me.

I pushed the pen deeper, until he had no choice but to let me go.

My body dropped breathlessly to the floor.

I scrambled to my feet, staring straight into the eyes that would give me nightmares had I had any sleep since meeting her.

She was the one I had to be wary of. Mr. Graff was human. His flesh was soft and fragile. Androids were a completely different story. I wouldn't be able to pierce through their hard exterior with the nail filer I still had in my possession.

I could try to deactivate her with the back switch, but something told me that she was much smarter than the other android. She would do well to protect it and that was assuming she had the typical build.

"God, damn it! Kill the bitch!" Mr. Graff screamed from the floor while clutching his bleeding eye. The pen was still protruding from his face as he was having difficulty working through the pain.

"No, her mind is still valuable. We will be able to use it and investigate where the breaking point is," Amanda stoically told him, unaffected by her injured partner.

I shook my head. I was never going to go back in there.

The keys were still in my pocket. I could still make a run for it.

And so, I did just that. My legs pumped quickly through the room, until I nearly broke my nose hitting the door of the elevator. It took two tries to find the correct key. Unfortunately, the elevator was nowhere near here. It seemed to be stuck on a floor and wouldn't come down.

"There is nowhere to go. Come here, Artemisia," she said, calmly walking towards me with the slightly scratched headgear in her hands.

Right… I hoped that she didn't think that was actually going to work.

No, of course not. She took out a gun. "As I said, there is nowhere to run. I may want you alive, but I don't need you conscious. Make it easier on yourself and come here at your own volition. I don't want to get blood on this pristine, white floor."

She cocked the gun.

There was nowhere to hide.

I clutched tightly to the nail filer as if it could somehow stop the bullet that was about to be lodged inside my body.

Tears began to sting my eyes, but I refused to allow them to fall. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.

She had already taken so damn much from me. I really wanted to clam them all back, but I wasn't strong enough. I had failed Simon and now, I was failing Connor. I could only hope that Hank would take care of him for me.

"Shoot her, Amanda!" Mr. Graff screeched.

I closed my eyes.

 _Ding!_

I was suddenly falling backwards, right into a warm body.

"Artie!"

My eyes snapped back open and the sob finally ripped out of my lips. 'Connor!" My arms immediately flew around him. "You found - !"

I was twirled to the side.

 _Bang!_

Markus flew out of the elevator.

Amanda took a shocked step back, not anticipating the RK200's presence, but even with the gun taken away, she refused to back down.

"Take her away from here, Connor! I will take care of them!" Markus shouted, dodging a kick to his head.

"Reinforcement is on its way!" he shouted back before taking a step away from me. "I have to help him. Get out of here and…"

He leaned down, stroking my cheek with his thumb. It appeared as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

"Don't go," I whispered. My hand was still clinging tightly on to his jacket. He didn't have to go back in there. Markus could take care of himself.

Connor smiled. "I'll be back and I always keep my promises with you."

My heart pounded in my chest.

I didn't want him to go, but I knew that I couldn't stop him. He was his own person and I was proud of him for it. "Stay safe. D- Don't get hurt again, okay? You're always so clumsy. I… I…"

There was nothing that I could say to truly express how I felt, so I reached out and pulled him down by his tie.

Our lips crashed down together. It was soft, innocent, and far too brief before he pulled away.

"I love you, Artie." With that, he winked and stepped back just as the elevator door closed.

I banged on the door, calling out his name. Tears were streaming down my face. It felt as if this was the last time I was ever going to see him.

"Stupid, Connor…" I sobbed, dropping to the floor.

And that was how they found me.


	86. Chapter 85

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE**

"Shit! Are you oaky? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hank rushed in, pulling me up and checking me over for any injuries. Other than some major bruises, I hadn't taken much damage. "I – I'm fine, but Connor and Markus are down there in The Garden. It's Mr. Graff and Amanda! They took me in there and trapped me in their virtual program and there were so many before me! Please, h-help them!" I wasn't even sure if I was making any sense, but I didn't care. I had to get it all out there as quickly as I could.

The lieutenant nodded as if he understood everything. 'We'll get those motherfuckers. Josh, stay with her here. You, too, Miller. The rest of you, follow me. We're going to get those assholes behind bars!"

A PJ500 android came up to me and slowly guided me away from the elevator.

"W-Wait! The elevator needs a key. I…" I froze when I realised that I had left it still slotted in The Garden. Would the elevator still work?

"Hey, stay right there! We'll get this sorted out without you hurting yourself!" Hank barked with his finger pointed at me.

Not knowing what else to do, I sat down on one of the plus couches in the lobby.

"They'll be okay. Connor and Markus are very capable," Josh said. He had a very calm and comforting voice.

I wondered how he ended up with Hank and the rest of the DPD. It wasn't a secret that the grumpy lieutenant hated androids. Perhaps his view had changed after working with Connor.

Thinking about him made me instantly recall our last moment together. I didn't know where my feelings began to change. It felt as if I was somehow cheating on Simon. What would he think if he knew that I had just kissed Connor? It was as if I had cheated on him with his best friend.

"Simon told me a lot about you while we were at Jericho," Josh quietly said.

"You know Simon?" I asked.

"When I met him, I thought that was it for me, but he found me and helped a stranger. I hope that it didn't inconvenience you when he went into the shop for some supplies," he told me.

I shook my head. It rusted Simon to always do that was right. If emptying my bank account would bring him back, I would.

"He always wished to go back home to you," he went on with a small, reminiscent smile. "Some days, it was all he'd talk about."

"I… I miss him so much," I whispered back, clenching my hand around the hem of my shirt. "He was always so kind and gentle. He didn't deserve to die like that!"

"I'm sorry, Artemisia," he apologised, giving my hand a pat.

I pulled my knees to my chest. I couldn't do anything else for Simon, but Connor… I needed him to come back safe.

"Have faith in them. They've accomplished so much as individuals. Together, they are a formidable force."

His words did little to ease the nerves that kept me jumping at every sound, hoping that it was Connor walking out.

It was half an hour later when the doors opened again.

Hank was the first to come out, followed by two officers who had Mr. Graff in handcuffs. The blood on his face was dark and crusted, but with his one good eye, he was glaring at me.

When they were all out, I noticed two figures still missing. Where was Connor? Why wasn't he with them?

"Fuckin' bitch! I _made_ you! I gave you a chance! You'd be _nothing_ without me!" he shouted, temporarily tearing me away from the horrible feeling festering at the pit of my stomach.

Hank stopped and turned. He grabbed the other man's hair in a rough grip. "You, shut the fuck up or I'll poke out your other eye!"

"You can't do that! You're a police officer!" Mr. Graff exclaimed. His voice was a little shaky as he couldn't quite tell if the haggard lieutenant was being serious or not.

"You want to test that theory, asshole?"

Jason Graff made the most comical face as he fervently shook his head.

"Get him in the car, boys!"

Hank walked over to me as I stared expectantly at him. "Is… Is Connor…?"

"What?" He frowned at me for a moment before realisation hit him. "Oh! The kid's fine! Actually, he wants to see you down there. And why the Hell didn't you tell me about the talking elevator? That's some creepy shit!"

I would apologise but I couldn't control the wide grin on my face. "What did he need me for?" I asked. I was practically vibrating with elation. Connor was okay! I really should've had more faith in him like Josh said.

Hank shrugged.

"I'll be back, then! Thanks for staying with me!" I gave Josh a tight hug before running into the elevator.

Inside, I awkwardly stood there by myself. "Umm… Maybe I go to The Garden?" I was uncertain if that was going to work, but everyone else seemed to have gone down fine.

Thankfully, a second later, the voice replied, "Registered: The Garden."

I tried to think of what to say when I saw him. A part of me was already regretting the kiss because I didn't know how to deal with these emotions. The uncertainty was both fuelled and alleviated by his confession. When had he realised these emotions? He had only recently become a deviant. I didn't want to put my heart into this only to have it all blow up in my face.

Time ran out when the door slid open.

Two heads turned to me at the same time and I felt my face flush red. "C-Connor, I'm so glad you're okay!"

The RK800 grinned back, stepping forward to envelope me into a tight hug. He was so nice and warm. "I'm glad to be okay, too!"

"You, too, Markus!" I exclaimed, getting on my tippy toes to peek over Connor's shoulder to look at the other android. "Thank you so much for helping us! You didn't have to, but you did! I'll always be grateful for what you've done."

"It's no problem," Markus graciously replied with a smile.

"Is there anything I can help you with? Hank said you wanted to see me." I looked over to Amanda's deactivated body. The dark eyes were still open, but completely lifeless. There was a bullet through the centre of her forehead. Even then, there was still a spike of fear at her physical presence.

"We're hoping that you can delete her and the program. No one should have that much control over anyone," Markus said. "Connor and Simon have both told me how good you are with computers."

"Can't you interface with the machine?" I asked. I knew that androids had a wide range of access to anything that related to computers. Why would they need me to do something that is so trivial for them?

"We're tired, but it seems to suck us into the Zen Garden. Thankfully, Connro told me how to get out of there."

Connor frowned. "What? No, I didn't."

"But someone who looked just like you was there. The only difference was that he had an injury to the side of his face, instead of his shoulder," he told us.

Two thoughts simultaneously entered my mind.

Connor, stop getting injured!

Sumo, are you still alive?!

I gently broke away from Connor and ran into the room, turning the screen on. With less pressure and no longer fearing for my life, I was able to play around until I could see inside the virtual world.

The Zen Garden looked very peaceful without Amanda wrecking havoc everywhere, but most importantly, lying beside the totem was Sumo staring peacefully at the sky.


	87. Chapter 86

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX**

I pulled out the memory stick and pocketed the small device before confirming the deletion of all data in the machine. It was as if all the weight was lifted off me. Amanda was finally gone. She was never going to have another body. She was never going to exist in any world nor would anyone know her as anyone but Elijah Kamski's mentor. The nightmare was over and all that was left were the memories of chaos, blood, and death.

"Connor, are you still able to access the program?" I turned to him as he processed my request.

His LED flashed yellow and after a second, he replied, "No, I can't open it, anymore. There are only local files left. I can delete them."

Satisfied, I nodded. "I'm ready to go home, now."

"Then, let's go home." He extended his hand towards me and I happily accepted it.

Markus, Connor, and I finally left the Garden, hopefully for the last time. The lobby was nearly empty, except for Josh who was still seated on the couch where I had left him. He stood up when he noticed our return.

"Josh, it's good to see you!" Markus took several long strides over to the PJ500 and gave him a hug.

I turned to Connor. No words exchanged between us, but he leaned down and gently captured my lips with his. Thoughts began to fly out of my head as all I could concentrate on was how good he felt against me. His hand trailed down to my waist, pulling me closer, until I was pressed tightly against him.

"Connor…" I breathed.

"I love you, Artie," he whispered. "I – I don't really understand what that entails, but when I search up what is wrong with me, the results state that this is most likely caused by love."

I let out a small laugh. "You searched it up?"

"Should I not have?" He tilted his head, giving me a confused look. "I search up everything that I do not understand and there is much since my deviancy."

"Did that include kissing?" I smiled teasingly at him as his LED flashed red and he looked to the side. There was no blush, but I could just picture it on him. He was absolutely adorable. "Never mind. Whether you did or not, I really enjoyed it."

His lips quirked up, but he still refused to look at me.

I gently touched his shoulder where thirium could still be seen on his jacket. "You'll need some patching up. Your jacket and shirt, too."

"I apologise. It was not my intention to give you more things to do. I can always request CyberLife to repair me, but I do prefer your assistance," he told me, finally looking back. Suddenly, his LED turned yellow. "Ah, we still have to find Kamski. He was missing when I woke up from the Zen Garden. Do you know where I may find him?"

A frown appeared on my face before shaking my head. "No, but we better find him. Who knows if he's still even alive. Mr. Graff and Amanda clearly didn't care about anyone but themselves."

But where would they take him? There were several obvious locations, such as here at the Tower and Mr. Graff's home. "We should look through the offices, since we're here."

He nodded. "Good idea."

"Josh, Markus, we're going to see if we can find Kamski here. Did you want to come along?" I asked.

Markus immediately replied, "Yes, there may be other dangers. We don't know if there are any other people collaborating with them."

That was true. I hadn't really thought about it, but there had been many others who were put under Mr. Graff's strange tests. There could be more people like Lina or there could be more people who knew about what he was doing.

"The DPD is already conducting a full investigation. They have gathered all the evidence in The Garden. Detective Reed is currently upstairs where Jason Graff's office is," Connor told us.

I suppressed a groan. I really disliked that man after the interrogation. It didn't help that he also had a very deep hatred for androids. "Okay, let's go."

The four of us took the elevator, once more. It was strange going down the familiar hall, while I was not heading to work. I really wasn't even sure if I was still an employee here after what happened. The future seemed so uncertain.

"His office is down here." I led them to where the door was already opened and when I peeked in, my eyes widened.

Detective Reed was still there, but so was Elijah Kamski. The latter looked exhausted as he sat uncomfortably on the floor with his wrists and ankles tied. A crumpled piece of duct tape was discarded beside him.

"Tell me the truth!" the detective growled, shaking the poor man who definitely looked worse for wear.

"Detective! What are you doing?" Connor rushed in to remove the hand away from the father of androids.

"Get your hands off me!" Detective Reed wrenched himself away, wincing as he rubbed his wrist. It was no doubt bruised from how forcefully he had disengaged from Connor. "I'm doing what all you plastic toys are too stupid to do! He is obviously involved! Amanda Stern was _his_ mentor!"

Kamski let out a long sigh. "And I've told you already that she was also Jason's mentor, as well. I have nothing to do with what occurred. I have no set foot in this building since my retirement."

"Detective, please, allow me to handle this," Connor told the enraged man who spat at his feet.

Detective Gavin Reed looked as if he was about to blurt out a very unpleasant string of words, but managed to stop himself. "I'll have all you plastic fucks gone!" With that, he stormed away.

"Mr. Kamski, are you alright?" Connor asked as he quickly untied the man.

"I'll be better once I'm home," Kamski replied, rubbing tiredly at the bridge of his nose.

"Have you seen what happened to - ?"

"My Chloes? Yes. Graff killed them in front of me to try to prove a point, but he missed a few and I have all of them backed up."

Connor nodded. "That's good. You are free to go, but the DPD will most likely contact you at a later time. They will need your account of what happened and an official statement."

"Just call me and set a time. I have a lot of things to do in the meanwhile. Oh, and Connor? I think I may also have a solution to the issue you told me about earlier."


	88. Chapter 87

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN**

We dropped by the police station first where I gave a very long and tiring statement of what had happened to me. Thankfully, it was Jeffrey who was the one asking the questions because I was not in the mood to deal with Detective Reed screaming in my face. It was also a blessing that Connor was able to upload his memories for further inspection.

"Go home and go get some sleep. I think you've had enough for today." That was an understatement of the year.

Quickly thanking Jeffrey, I stopped at Hank's desk where Connor was currently speaking with the lieutenant. "Just take the damn key and leave it under the doormat."

"But, lieutenant, it's unsafe. If you will allow it, we will stay until morning. I can open the door for you upon arrival or perhaps you would prefer it if I come back here to give you back the key," Connor offered as Hank was looking grumpier and grumpier.

"God damn it! Aren't you supposed to be normal, now? Aren't you a deviant? For fuck's sake, Connor!" the lieutenant exclaimed, tossing his key at the RK800.

I let out a giggle and tugged at Connor's arm. "We'll open the door for you when you're home, Hank. Don't worry."

He waved us off, having completely lost interest in our presence and went back to typing on his computer.

"Come on, Connor. We'll go to Hank's and play with Sumo, okay?"

His face immediately lit up. "Yes, I'd like to play with Sumo. He's a very good boy, Artie."

We took a taxi to Hank's house where I noticed that Simon's body had been moved to the armchair where it appeared as if he was napping there. The blanket was still covering most of him.

"I'm sorry, Artie. I wished that I was here for you," Connor quietly whispered, gently petting Sumo who had immediately come padding over when he noticed our arrival.

I shook my head with a sad smile. "You had your own job to do. I can't keep expecting you to be there for everything."

"But I should be. I should be there if you are in danger. I should be there to keep you safe. I… I'm thinking of quitting my job at the DPD, would you be angry if I did?" he asked. His LED flashed between yellow and red as he stared at me.

Now that he was deviant and the president was quickly trying to work out compromises to keep the peace, androids were allowed to choose what they want to do. There was an entire list that they announced on the television. "No, I wouldn't be angry if that's what you want, but don't do it for me. I just want you to do what you want. Tell me the truth, Connor."

"I do enjoy working with Lieutenant Hank and I do like investigating different crime scenes, putting all the evidence together, but I also want to keep you safe. That is my first priority," he stated, looking as decisive as his words.

"Then stay at the DPD. Besides, if you catch all the criminals, I'll be safe, right?" I grinned.

He blinked several times, thinking over my logic. "Statistically, yes, but – "

"No more buts! Except… Your butt on the couch!" I pointed at the worn love seat. That was so lame, but I needed him to stop arguing with me. He meant well, but sometimes, he just over thought everything.

Connor obediently complied, gingerly planting his butt on the slightly deformed seat.

I knelt by my bag that was neatly packed and took out everything I needed. "Take off your jacket and shirt and lay down."

When I finished sorting through everything, I looked back at him and felt my heart skip. I had seen him topless and fully naked numerous times before. I was his creator! I _mad_ _e_ him, but at that very moment, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. My face was flaming and I had to avert my eyes to keep myself from passing out from the sudden head rush.

"D-Do you mind covering umm…" I stuttered uncertainly, trying to think of how I wanted to end the sentence. "I mean…"

His hand reached out and gently pulled my head to lie on his stomach.

I swore that I just died.

I remained there, listening to the soft hum of his body. He had his eyes closed and his hand was stroking my hair. The tool clattered on to the floor. "You're going to make me fall asleep if you keep doing that."

"Sleep. You can fix me tomorrow," he replied.

It was so tempting, but I wanted to get him cleaned and repaired, so with much difficulty, I lifted my head up and let out a yawn. "I hate you, Connor…" I mumbled, grabbing the tool again.

He smiled back at me as I worked. It took an hour and a bottle of thorium, but it was worth it. His artificial skin was the only thing left that needed to be healed, which wasn't going to take long.

"Thank you, Artie." He sat up from the couch. "You can sleep here. Would you like to wash first? Do you require assistance?"

My eyes widened. "No!" I quickly threw the tool back into the bag and raced away, ignoring the way my body was protesting for me to slow down.

I took a nice and cold shower, half successful in removing any indecent thoughts from my mind.

"Okay, Connor. I'm going to – "

I stopped to watch him cuddle the big, fluffy St. Bernard. Saliva was dripping from one side of his face, but he didn't seem to care. He had a carefree laugh that made me smile. I quietly walked over behind him and held him.

"Artie…"

Simon was gone, but I still had Connor and whatever it was that we had, I wanted to run with it as far as I could.


	89. Chapter 88

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT**

When I woke up the next morning, I would like to feel like a million bucks, but I was incredibly sore everywhere. The bruise on my back was the worst. Every action made me suppress a groan.

"Are you alright, Artie? You look as if you are experiencing some discomfort." Connor poked his head out from the kitchen. His LED was yellow as I was sure he was scanning me for any anomalies.

"I'm fine," I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Just some bruises from yesterday. I think you took most of the damage."

He looked bashfully back. "But I'm all fixed, now."

Slowly, I sat up, being just a tad bit melodramatic as I groaned in pain.

Connor rushed over with a warm hand and began to gently massage the spot at the small of my back.

A yelp escaped me from both the shock of his actions and how much it bleeding hurt!

"This will help disperse the blood cells that have escaped your broken capillaries," he stated.

"It's okay! I'll manage!" I tried to wiggle away from him, but his vice-like grip made it impossible.

"This is not a location on the body that you can easily access. Please, allow me to assist you." He was merciless as he dug his palm into my soft flesh. There were disadvantages to his deviancy, after all – _he didn't listen to me!_

Eventually, I just gave up and tried my best not to tense up as he continued on for another five minutes.

"There. Now, you should get up. I have breakfast ready for you." He tilted my chin and pecked my lips. It was far too short, so I pulled him back in.

"Just me? What about Hank? He's home, isn't he? I thought I heard him come in sometime during the night." I leaned my head on his shoulder.

It was then that I realised something strange. Something missing… I couldn't figure out what it was immediately, but it was nagging at my mind, until finally, it hit me. "Where's Simon!?"

He was no longer sitting on the armchair. The blanket that had covered him last night was on top of me. Why hadn't I realised any of these earlier? It had taken me so long just to remember that he was absent. What was wrong with me? Had I forgotten him so quickly?

"There is no need to worry," Connor quickly reassured me with a smile. "I have taken him to Elijah Kamski. He said he was going to give Simon a look and see if he can be fixed."

Oh…

It hadn't really occurred to me to go to Kamski, but that was probably the best course of action. That man was a prodigy when it came to androids. If anyone could fix it, it would be him, but before yesterday, I hadn't even thought he was anyone worth trusting. To be honest, I still didn't think so, but I trust Connor and that was enough for me. It wasn't as if I had many options left.

I couldn't fix him.

CyberLife was a wreck. I didn't want them near any of my androids. The likelihood was that I was going to give them my resignation letter. I couldn't trust anyone there. It didn't help that I never really made any friends there. Peter was the only one I would be sad to leave behind.

"Do you think he can do it? Do you think he can bring our Simon back?" I quietly asked, playing with his long, pale fingers.

He wrapped them around my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "I think there's a good chance. We can't give up hope – not yet, especially when we've beaten the odds of survival time and time again. Simon will do the same."

I finally got off the couch and gave my teeth a quick wash with my fingers. I was really going to have to go back home and do a thorough clean up. Despite the shower yesterday, every part of me was still feeling extremely filthy.

When I was in the kitchen, Connor was crouching down, tending to Sumo who was happily lapping at his healthy portion of dog food.

He turned to me. "I made your favourite. I hope you like it. The shop I usually go to wasn't opened, yet, so I had to make some substitutions."

"It smells delicious, Connor. Thank you." Indeed, the kitchen no longer smelled like booze and my stomach was growling at what was in front of me.

As usual, everything was cooked to perfection and I already knew that Connor had portioned everything to the gram as he typically did. This wasn't something I had directly programmed in him. He was just oddly super healthy and food conscious, even though he wasn't able to eat anything himself. Simon was a little more indulgent. He'd give me extra helpings on things I probably shouldn't be eating so much of. I wasn't quite sure which I preferred.

"If I go in there, I better not see any strange shit!" came Hank's voice.

"It's fine, lieutenant," Connor replied, smiling at his partner whose head of messy bed hair was further ruffled by a large hand. "Would you like breakfast or lunch?"

"I want a fuckin' bottle of whiskey," Hank grumbled, plopping down on to the chair across from me.

"I will give you a large glass of cold water. That will help stimulate your metabolism."

"Then why the Hell did you even ask me? Stupid fuckin' android… Doing whatever he fuckin' likes in my own damn house…" Hank continued to grumble to himself before giving me a small glare. "And why the fuck did you just leave without telling me? I could've gone with you to see that fucker."

I looked down at my plate. "I didn't want to bother you and you were pretty deep asleep." Or completely plastered and wouldn't wake up even if I tried. "I thought I could handle it. I'm really sorry about all the trouble I caused."

"The only one you should be saying sorry to is yourself. Nearly got yourself killed! At least we caught the fucker. I doubt he'll be seeing the light of day, any time soon." He stared at the clear glass placed in front of him in distaste. "You know what, Connor? I think I liked you better when you were willing to bribe me with a nice, hard drink at Jimmy's Bar."


	90. Chapter 89

**CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE**

Home.

Home had been ever changing as of late.

I currently had Connor and Sumo with me. Hank had gone back to the station to deal with the case because he didn't trust the "asshole Reed" to get things right. Typically, the St. Bernard was perfectly fine on his own in the house, but Connor had wanted to take him with us. Hank was alright with it as long as we took him back before ten. Connor was also given the spare key to his place.

The first thing I did once I set everything down was hop into the shower with a new set of clothes. I didn't feel like myself, until I nearly rubbed myself raw long after the hot water ran out. I wanted to rid myself of the memories of the fake Simon. I wanted to forget everything that we did together because it tarnished what I treasured most.

"Artie, are you alright? You have been in there for one hour and twenty-nine minutes. Do you require assistance?" Connor asked through the door.

I finally shut off the tap and stared in the mirror. Other than the dark bags beneath my eyes, I looked the same. I just didn't _feel_ the same.

Turning around, I was finally able to see the dark discolouration on my back. It was roughly the size of a tea saucer. Maybe I should invest in a heating pad. That could help. Then again, I was most likely jobless. I shouldn't be wasting money needlessly. The other option would be to ask Connor to help me.

"Artie?"

"I'm coming out! I'm okay! Don't need help with anything!" I shouted back, quickly putting my clothes on.

He was still waiting by the door when I opened it.

His eyes reached mine first, but then it travelled downward and back up again. His LED was yellow. "You're beautiful, Artie," he whispered. "May I… kiss you?"

I nodded, mutedly, staring at him with wide eyes.

This kiss started out slow and soft, moving at a leisurely pace. It didn't last long as he ran his hand down the side of my body. I pressed myself closer against him. "Connor…"

"Please, tell me if I'm taking this too quickly. I understand that different people have different paces they like to proceed – "

I pulled him back into a kiss. "You talk too much, Connor."

His finger grazed the top of my pyjama pants and that was when we stopped. I wasn't ready for that, but I really liked kissing him, so instead of removing my lips from his, I merely shifted his hand up.

He didn't complain.

Eventually, Sumo came padding over, sniffing at our feet, until I let out a giggle. I looked down at the St. Bernard who tilted his head at me before letting out a happy bark.

The mood was broken, but I was content with giving the cute thing a scratch behind the ears. "You're a good boy, aren't you, Sumo?" I asked.

He barked, again.

I stretched. "Connor, I need to go down to my lab and work some things out. If you need me for anything, just come find me."

He smiled and nodded. "Please, do not work yourself too hard. I will bring down dinner for you and remind you to go to bed at midnight."

After pecking him on the cheek, I made my way downstairs with the memory stick in my hand. I hoped that I had done everything properly.

There was only one way to find out.

I plugged the small stick in and clicked the option to open the file. I adjusted the headset, shifting the microphone so that it was positioned near my mouth. "Sumo, can you hear me?"

The figure on the monitor tilted his head. "Artie, is that you?"

"Yes! It's me!" I laughed. At least one good thing had come out of this! "I was so scared that you had died and then when I had to get rid of Amanda, I thought I might've accidentally made a mistake somewhere, but… You're here!"

He smiled, lying back down on the grass. There was really nothing around him. The Zen Garden had been reduced to a small radius around him and the totem. "I never lost faith in you. I knew you would keep your promise."

Clearly, he had more confidence in me than I had for myself. "I don't have a body for you, yet, but I'm going to work on it once I get the parts. Is there anything I can do to help you while away the time? It must be boring and lonely there."

"I would be delighted if you would speak to me when you can, but when I am alone, I go through my memory files. There are many days logged. Some pieces are missing, but I have made a folder of my favourites," he fondly told me.

I sat there for an hour just speaking with him before an idea came to me. I was certain that I wouldn't be able to expand the world for him. When I read the codes, they were far too complicated for me to fully understand and I didn't want to risk losing Sumo over something so silly.

And so, while talking to him, I began to work on the small project.

"Artie, I've brought you dinner." Connor came down, bringing the scent of mash, gravy, and chicken fingers with him. When he was placing the tray on my desk, he froze. "Is that…?"

I nodded. "I managed to save his file before I deleted everything else."

He pecked me on the cheek as I had done for him earlier.

"Is that Connor?" Sumo asked.

"Yes. Did you want to talk to him?" I looked at the RK800 that was right beside me.

"If I may."

Connor leaned down, his lips brushing my cheek as he spoke. "I'm here, Sumo."

Sumo sighed. "I am not able to protect her from here, so you have to do it for me. Don't let anything happen to her, Connor."

"I promise. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"Okay! Okay! Stop, you guys!" I pushed Connor's face away, while concealing mine with my hair to keep him from seeing the blush. "Back to work! If you want to talk next time, I'll give you some privacy!"

With a chuckle, Connor finally walked back upstairs, while I continued on with the project.

It wouldn't be until three in the morning before I finished what I set out to do. As promised, Connor had come numerous times to remind me to get some rest.

"I have a small gift for you, Sumo, but I'll have to leave for a few minutes. I'll be back, though!" I told him.

He nodded with a smile.

I integrated the codes into the program and turned it back on.

Instead of just one figure, there was a second one – on four legs and furry all over.

A Sumo for Sumo…

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Wooo~! Three months of updates! How many of you are even still reading? xD


	91. Chapter 90

**CHAPTER NINETY**

The next day, I drove over to CyberLife Tower. Of course, Connor was sitting right beside me. He refused to allow me to go anywhere alone. His overbearing nature was endearing, but I kind of missed my independence. And it wasn't as if I could deny him anything. For some reason, he was very good at manipulating me to do what he wanted.

"I'm sorry. CyberLife Tower is currently closed for investigations. No one is allowed entry." This guard was not one I had ever seen before, so I assumed he wasn't a CyberLife employee.

"I'm from the Detroit City Police Department," Connor chimed in, leaning over to my side so that the man could see him.

"Oh! Y-Yes! Go right in! S-Sorry… I didn't see you," the guard stuttered, recognising him immediately because there was only one RK800 in the world, currently. For whatever reason, he seemed rather terrified of Connor who merely smiled pleasantly at him in return. It was quite comical.

Once we were inside, I headed straight to the lab. The AI greeted us when we entered the elevator and I happily reciprocated the sentiment. I very much enjoyed the new change. It always felt lonely working here, especially after learning that the one person I trust the most here had betrayed me.

The lab was empty when we arrived. In fact, the entire tower felt eerily silent. I hadn't seen anyone at all.

I went on the computer, logged in, and looked through the catalogue. Midway through, I turned to Connor with an idea. "Are you able to interface with this and umm… hack into the website so I can order the parts through you?"

He blinked. "May I clarify the request?"

I nodded.

"You wish for me to create an illegal link for you to purchase items on here?" he asked.

I nodded, again.

After a moment, he let out a sigh. "Very well."

His artificial skin pulled back from his hand and he began to interface with the computer. The process was quick. The pages scrolled through quickly. In a matter of seconds, he was done. "Would you like to order anything?"

I listed off the items I needed. When he was done, pulled him into a kiss. It was meant to be brief, but he seemed to enjoy kissing as much as me.

He buried his fingers into my hair, gently tugging me closer. His tongue ran across my bottom lip before slipping into my mouth. It felt normal enough, but he didn't produce his own saliva and at the very centre was a small bump where the sensor was.

I softly moaned his name, not wanting to part, but I needed air.

"I have calculated the composition of your saliva and you are – "

I pushed his face away with my hands. "Shut up, Connor! You're ruining the mood!"

With a sigh and a shake of a head, I finally got off the computer. "Okay, we have everything for Sumo. I'm going to drop by Kamski's place. Are you coming with?"

"Of course."

The drive there was quiet. The mood had most definitely changed and it wasn't because of Connor. Visiting Kamski would gauge whether he would be able to fix Simon or not. I needed him back. Life was not complete without him.

Connor reached over and placed his hand on my knee, giving it a comforting squeeze.

I wanted him to be there when the world finally accepted androids as people with rights. I wanted him to be able to experience real freedom without fear of being assaulted on the streets. Our last memories together had been filled with such chaos. We never even had a chance to sit down and talk and there was so, so much that I had to say.

"He should be expecting us. I had sent him a message shortly after leaving CyberLife Tower," Connor told me when I parked the car.

The estate looked just as I remembered, except that the front door was different. When it opened a Chloe greeted us with a smile. "Hello. He has been waiting for you."

I walked in and noticed that outwardly, it looked the same, but inside, it was very different. The large portrait of him and Amanda Stern was removed, replaced by a portrait of Chloe. I was glad. I didn't want to see that horrible face ever again, but I wondered what Kamski must've been thinking.

Amanda – the human – had been his mentor. He had fond memories of her before his program had been hijacked by a demented man. It was similar to what happened to me with Simon, but I refused to let the imposter ruin him for me.

"I'm surprised you lasted so long before coming here," Kamski said as he walked into the lobby. He was dressed very similarly to him he had the first time I met him – in a robe and slippers, but he hadn't been swimming. There were smudges of oil and thirium on the terry cloth. "Follow me."

Connor and I shared a look. Did that mean that he had been working on Simon? Was it going to be good news or bad news? His face told me absolutely nothing. He just looked tired.

As I continued walking, I realised that there weren't any other Chloes around like before. The one who greeted us was the only one present. When I quietly pointed it out to Connor, he gave me a sad look.

"They were all destroyed by Jason Graff and Amanda," he whispered back. "This must be the only one left."

"Oh…" That was depressing. He had risked a lot helping Connor when Amanda was trying to terminate him.

"Are you two done gossiping?" Kamski suddenly cut in, turning to us after opening a door that led downstairs.

I blushed. "S-Sorry…"

"Come along." He led us further and further down his lair where I wondered if he had some sort of android dragon that was going to eat us.

When I voiced my concerns, Connor told me I was being irrational.


	92. Chapter 91

**CHAPTER NINETY-ONE**

What he showed me put my work to shame.

His lab was absolutely glorious. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. From floor to ceiling were rows and rows of shelves. There were parts for every series of androids ever made and they were _new_. Each section was clearly labelled. _Nothing_ looked out of place.

I felt like I was in heaven.

There was a soft tug at my elbow and I dazedly followed Connor to where Simon laid on a metal table. That immediately snapped me out of my awe. His facial frame was opened to reveal the socket where the CPU had been. It was empty.

I looked at Kamski who was staring back at me. "Is he…? Can he be…?" I couldn't finish my questions. I was afraid of the answers they would yield.

"The CPU cannot be fixed. The damage was too extensive," he told me, watching expressionlessly as my heart shattered right before his eyes.

Connor was there to catch me when my legs collapsed. "We'll find another way, Artie. We will get him back."

The tears streamed down my face. It felt as if I was losing him over and over and over again. I couldn't stop the first imposter from killing him. I was only able to bring him back for a few minutes before he died again. The only person in the world couldn't save him. Would it be better if I just let him go? I didn't want Connor to follow me into this endless descent to failure.

I slowly got back to my feet and put his face back together before reactivating his artificial skin. "I'm so sorry, Simon," I sobbed, tears dropping on to his pale skin. "I sh-should've done more…"

With the thirium no longer visible on him and his hair covering the hole in his forehead, he looked as if he was just asleep. I wanted this to be the last image of him.

Connor kissed the side of my head.

"I loved him," I whispered.

"I know," he murmured. "Do you want to go home? We can bring his body back with us and figure something else out."

Home.

I didn't want much in this world. I'd give up almost anything just to have the two of them safely by my side. I didn't need the job at CyberLife. I didn't need any human companionship. For all the people who doubted me, I didn't care – not anymore. It seemed so trivial, now.

 _"Artie? You have a call from your mother," he told me, walking in with my cell phone._

 _Without even looking, I grabbed the small device and put it to my ear. "Mum?"_

 _"Artemisia, who was that?!" she shrieked, causing me to wince. "I told you no boys in the house! You've been there how long? Not even a year!"_

 _"Wait, mum - !" I tried to interrupt her, but she went on ranting. "MUM! He's not a boy!"_

 _"No, he's a_ _man_ _. Oh, baby… You don't know those American men. They'll use you and toss you away." She was practically sobbing as she spoke. "Come home, sweetie."_

 _I sighed. "Mum, he's not a man, either. Not exactly… I mean… He is kind of? But he's not going to take advantage of me or anything. He's Simon. I told you about him before, remember? He's my android."_

 _The sniffing momentarily stopped. "Simon? He's the blonde one?"_

 _"Yes, mum. I only have one android." I leaned back in my chair and smiled as Simon brought down a tray of warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk._

 _He always indulged my sweet tooth. If mother knew what I was eating, she'd have another freak out session, shouting between how childish I am and how my teeth were all going to fall off before I hit forty._

 _I tugged on his sleeve before he could leave. He gave me a questioning look._

 _"Here, talk to her," I whispered, holding the phone out to him._

 _Obediently, he took the device and placed it against one of his auditory units. "Hello?"_

 _Even from here, I could hear my mother screaming at him. I felt bad, but I knew that he could handle it. Besides, I figured that if she spoke to him, she'd understand why I was not concerned at all about Simon being inappropriate with me._

 _"Yes. I am Simon," he said. "No, I have no intentions to harm your daughter."_

 _I took a bite of the cookie, moaning when the chocolatey goodness hit my tongue. If he kept feeding me, I'd end up as big as the house and mother wouldn't even have to worry about me losing all my teeth. All my organs would fail. I'd die and become a landmark in Detroit._

 _"No, ma'am."_

 _"Yes, ma'am."_

 _"Yes, I will speak with her if you'd like, but I cannot guarantee that she will listen to me." I raised my eyebrows at his words. "No, if she doesn't want to go, I cannot force her. She is my owner. I obey what she asks of me. I understand you are her mother. Yes, ma'am." His LED began to flash red as I realised the fun was over._

 _I quickly snatched the phone back. "Hey, mum? Stop harassing my android! I'll be fine. You know me. I'll call you later, okay?"_

 _"Artemisia…" she started, but I cut her off._

 _"Let me live my life. It's what dad would've want and when I next see you, I'll show you everything I've accomplished. I'll make you proud," I told her, suddenly feeling teary eyed._

 _"I know you will, but you don't have anything to prove. I'll always be proud of you, baby," she sniffed. "I love you so much."_

 _"I love you, too."_

 _I loved talking to mum, but it was always an emotional rollercoaster with her._

 _A soft tissue was suddenly dabbing gently at my cheeks. I looked into striking blue eyes and a kind face._

 _I was happy here._

 _This was home._

"Alright, it's done," Kamski suddenly said, snapping me out of the memories I had with Simon.

What did he mean by that?

Simon's eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking confusedly around him before settling on me. A beautiful smile spread across his face. "Artie…"

I looked back at Kamski in shock. "B-But… You…"

"As I said, the CPU is too damaged to be repaired, but the bullet missed the memory unit. I put it into the new one I had," he told me with a small smirk on his face.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

For whoever is still reading this and really wanted Simon back. Here we go!


	93. Chapter 92

**CHAPTER NINETY-TWO**

I flew into his arms, holding him as tightly as my trembling arms would allow me. The tears continued to flow, soaking into his uniform. I couldn't believe that he was actually alive! If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.

From behind me, I felt a second body press in, wrapping his arms around the both of us. Never had I felt so warm and loved as I did now, but the more I allowed myself to succumb to it, the more fearful I became.

Had this not happened once before? I had put everything into the man I thought I loved and had it torn right out of my chest. What if this was another cruel trick? What if… What if I never left the virtual world? Was it only there that I can find true happiness?

"I'm here. Please, do not cry," Simon murmured, stroking my hair.

My body began to shake uncontrollably as it couldn't decide what to do and my mind and heart continued to rage upon themselves.

"Your heart rate is continuing to escalate," Connor informed, cooling down his body in an attempt to ease me. "Would you like me to step away?"

I fervently shook my head, hand grabbing at his sleeve as I feared he would disappear. "Just hold me," I hoarsely replied.

And so, we remained in the same position for what seemed like an eternity and only then, did the rational side of me return. I knew that I had escaped the virtual world, but since then, I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in there anymore. Everything had felt so real there, but if I stared long and hard enough, I had been able to distinguish between the two.

"I love you," I mumbled, not quite knowing who I was saying it to. It no longer seemed to matter because my heart was beating for the both of them. I never wanted to experience another second thinking that I would never see either one.

Their whispers of reciprocation were more than I ever deserved. I didn't know what I did to gain the affection of two of the most wonderful people in the world, but I couldn't be more content.

"W-We should return home now before we over stay our welcome here," I chuckled, finally wiping away the tears that were slowly crusting around my eyes.

Simon sighed, tilting my chin and melding our lips together. I clenched my hand around his shirt, moaning softly against him. "Mm… Not here, Simon."

He smiled back. "Very well. I… I miss home. I would like to return, as well."

Connor nodded, slowly disengaging first, until we were all our own separate persons again.

When I looked around, I noticed that we were the only ones here. How long had we been in here?

My face grew hot, wondering when I began to submit myself to PDA. That was really embarrassing. I just needed to keep my hands and lips to myself long enough to find a room…

Kamski gave us a knowing look as soon as we walked up the stairs. He was tinkering with one of the Chloes in the sitting room. "I hope I won't have to burn anything?"

I glared at him, turning away.

"I do not understand. Why would you wish to burn your possessions?" Connor asked with a thoughtful frown, trying to make sense of the question. "If you wish to get rid of anything, I can give you the directions to the nearest donation site."

"I can't tell if this is the fault of the creator or if your deviancy has served you nearly no purpose," Kamski stated.

That only further deepened Connor's frown. "Artie has made me to be perfect. I am merely questioning your intentions to destroy your furniture. Is that not a reasonable inquiry?"

Oh, Connor… I was definitely going to have to teach him some social queues later. I thought I had gotten it right, but maybe he had some more learning to do.

Kamski shot me a look.

I sheepishly smiled back. "Thank you for everything you've done. You had no reason to help us – to help Connor against Amanda or bring Simon back, but you did and I'll forever be grateful. I'm not very good, but if you need help with any of your Chloes, I'll try my best."

He waved his hand dismissively at me. "I had my own motives to help you. The last thing I want is for people like Graff to think he can control all the androids and keep them enslaved."

Elijah Kamski really wasn't as bad as everyone said he was. He just didn't seem to like to show it. He was the type of person who liked to observe everything from the sideline, while implementing small tweaks to see how it would change the outcomes. It was a little scary. He really wasn't someone you'd want on the opposite side.

"Allow me to show you out," Chloe stated with a smile.

On the way home, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I couldn't believe that I really had him back! It was so surreal! It felt as if it had been so long since I last saw him like himself and not just a plastic body.

Once we were behind closed doors, I jumped on Simon, clinging on to him as he spun me around. "I love you. I love you. I love you." I sprinkled his face with kisses as he smiled widely back at me.

"I love you, too."

…

Off to the side, Connor stood awkwardly watching. He loved her, too, and he knew that she loved him back, but did she love Simon more than him? It wasn't as if he wasn't happy that the other android was back. He just didn't want to lose Artie and it seemed like that was exactly what was happening.

He wanted to be the one to hold her close and kiss her.

He wanted to be the one she'd look at as if he was the centre of her universe.


	94. Chapter 93

**CHAPTER NINETY-THREE**

I glanced over to Connor who was staring at us with a red LED. Why wasn't he happy?

"What's wrong, Artie?" Simon asked the question I wanted to impose to Connor.

"Nothing," I replied, laying my head on his shoulder, but Connor's presence was driving me mad. I had cheated on Simon and I was now rubbing our affection in Connor's face. It was no wonder that he was upset.

I was a bad person.

"No… There _is_ something wrong," I corrected myself. It was even worst that I was lying and keeping it from him. He had to know that what we briefly had was more complicated than either one of us thought, which was really saying something.

Taking a couple of steps away from him, he finally saw on my face that there was something truly bothering me. "What is it? Are you alright? You can tell me anything." The concern in his voice only made me feel worse.

"Connor and I…" I looked at the RK800 to see if he would help out, but he didn't. He was waiting as anxiously as Simon. 'I mean… I-I-I love you, but I also… love Connor and we kissed, while you were… when I thought you were dead, but I still love you. I love you so much. I just d-don't know what to do because I can't seem to control how I feel. All I know is th-that I can't live without either of you and… and… please don't hate me. I – " My voice cracked. Once I stopped, I couldn't continue. The happiness had so quickly melted into dread and despair as my worst nightmare may actually become reality. Both of them could walk out of my life and I wouldn't be able to blame them for it.

Simon didn't say anything. Instead, he beckoned to Connor with his hand. The RK800 walked cautiously to the blonde.

"Our actions were not meant to harm you," Connor told him.

The other android remained eerily silent. I had never seen him like this before. I was afraid that at any moment, they were going to have a full out brawl.

"Simon, I – " Connor never managed to continue on with what he wanted to say when he was suddenly pulled forward and a pair of lips crashed down on to his.

My eyes widened in shock. Out of everything, I could never have predicted this outcome.

The kiss was very brief. Simon had let go of Connor immediately after it had happened as if even he could not believe that he had just kissed the other android.

Me, on the other hand…

I was having an existential crisis.

I never even considered that it was possible for them to have intimate feelings with each other. Now, I couldn't stop thinking about it. The strangest part was that… I kind of liked it.

Watching them kiss had brought heat shooting straight down to the point between my legs. I didn't know whether it was because they were both androids, both male, or because they were who they were and what they meant to me. All I knew was that I really enjoyed it.

Biting my lips, I quickly looked away in an attempt to calm my rapidly beating heart. It was then that a hand turned my head back and I was staring into soft blue eyes. "I'm not angry, Artie. I knew when you made him that there was a connection between the two of you." He rested his forehead on mine. "I'll always love you and I can accept Connor however you want me to."

I glanced back at the dark-haired android who seemed completely frozen with is LED still red. His eyes were wide, unable to process what had just happened. I was feeling the same way. Out of everything that had happened to me, _this_ seemed to be the thing that short circuited my brain.

Being given the choice, I didn't know what to say. He had provided an easy way out. "I… I want us to try a-and see how it works out."

He smiled, bringing me into a warm embrace. "Then we will try."

Like at Kamski's lab, I felt a second pair of arms around me from behind, sandwiching me between them. It was here that I felt the safest.

"May I kiss you?" Connor whispered against my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I hummed, tilting my neck to the side and lips fell on the sensitive flesh. What I expected to be an innocent kiss, involved tongue and teeth. My hand grabbed blindly behind me. "C-Connor!" I gasped, feeling my entire body tighten. Where had he learned to do things like this?!

While I was distracted, Simon took the liberty to capture my lips. My brain was trying to catch up with my body that was working overtime and burning so hot that I thought I was going to implode.

Suddenly, I was pushing them both away and scrambling back. Irrational fear seized me and I couldn't stop shaking. His face danced around in my mind's eye. His, but… not his.

They both asked about my well being at the same time, but I couldn't give them a straight answer. I was physically fine, but it was as if I was back in that place. I was feeling the same euphoria before it all came crashing down.

"Artie…" Simon whispered. He tried to touch me, but I cringed away and I could see how it hurt him when I did that, but I was fighting for the truth – for reality.

A part of me still believed that this could still be a trick. How could I tell?

No, I was out. Amanda and Mr. Graff no longer had any control over me.

I was home.

Connor was here.

Simon was here.

I was safe.

I was safe.

I clenched my eyes shut, rocking back and forth. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"


	95. Chapter 94

**CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR**

Connor was completely frozen in shock when Simon kissed him. He had seen images from the internet, but never thought it'd be something he'd experience. He tried to figure out what this action meant. Why would Simon do something like this when he was in love with Artie?

His CPU was still having difficulty processing what happened when he noticed that they were embracing each other and he felt… left out. He wanted to keep giving them their space. He should've just walked away, but he couldn't figure out what the kiss meant. The curiosity nagged at him, until it became too much.

He only meant to approach them, but his body moved on its own. Being a deviant was really hard work. It was as if there were some simple mechanics that he had to learn all over again.

And so, he found himself pressed against her back, hoping that she wouldn't reject him and she didn't.

He was contently executing the manoeuvres he found on the internet when suddenly, she was gone, pulling away from them as if they had burnt her.

Her eyes were wild and her heart was racing. She was going to pass out if she didn't calm down.

When Simon tried to touch her, she flinched away and that was when Connor realised why she was reacting this way.

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

She was most likely reliving her time at the Zen Garden's version of Detroit.

He quietly pulled Simon to the side and softly explained what he knew regarding what had happened and her reaction wasn't exactly because of him but what she had been through. They never had the chance to do that since Simon was reactivated.

Simon clenched his fists. It made him angry to know that the person she trusted had betrayed her and used _his_ face to do harm. It was a wonder that she had still wanted to bring him back after what happened.

He looked back at his sobbing owner. Yes, she was still his owner. Turning deviant would never change that because he liked being hers in every way that he could. This meant that he was never going to give up on her. He'd wait as long as he needed for her to accept him as she did before.

"I will be preparing supper. Please, make sure she is alright," he told Connor who regarded him with sympathetic eyes.

"I will," Connor replied, watching the PL600 walk away.

How quickly everything changed.

He went over to Artie and sat down beside her. His CPU went into overdrive as he tried to think of what to say to her. Obviously, she wasn't alright, so asking her would be redundant. Having no words, he slowly moved closer, careful not to startle her. "I would like to hold you," he finally said.

She didn't reply, so he proceeded. Once they made contact, she grabbed on to his jacket and sobbed into his chest. They remained in silence for a few minutes before she began to speak. "I… I didn't m-mean to hurt h-him. I l-love him s-so much, but I can't seem to forget what h-happened. I can't s-seem to forget. What am I going t-to do, Connor?"

He went over the victim comforting protocols several times, but didn't find anything satisfactory. They were all too cold – too distant and generic. Artie was not a stranger. She was someone precious to him and she deserved something that came from him. "You don't need to forget, but allow us to help you move on."

"I-I-I-I just have such a hard time convincing myself that this is _real_ ," she cried. "Deep down, I _know_ it is, but… What if it isn't?"

He had no way of truly convincing her, but he hoped that she would eventually accept that this was indeed real. They had escaped the virtual world. He was certain of it. He thought that allowing her to fully delete the program would help ease her in the long run, but it didn't seem to have done anything.

"This is real, Artie," he told her, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "Everything around us is real."

She remained silent. "Is Simon gone? I didn't mean to hurt him," she repeated. "I don't want him to leave."

"He's not gone. He's just in the kitchen. Do you smell that? He cooked your favourite." He felt her lift her head from his chest and sniff around.

Her nose crinkling slightly and she wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry, Connor. I didn't mean to ruin the moment. I don't know why I'm like this."

"It is a normal reaction to what you went through," he replied, scanning around the room to see if he could find anything to distract her. "Would you like to play a board game while we wait for the food?"

She shook her head. "No, I'd like to go to the kitchen, please."

And so, they relocated.

Simon was by the stove with a pan in his hand and a spatula in another. She sat down at the table, watching him move around. He hadn't greeted her or even acknowledged her presence, making her wonder if he was angry at her.

Just as she was about to say something, he turned around. A smile was on his face, but his eyes were sad. He went over with the hot pan and carefully slid the content on to a plate before placing it in front of her. Immediately after, he turned back around and began to clean the utensils he had used.

She quietly ate, staring down at her food. The sustenance didn't taste like anything. Her mouth was dry and she couldn't find enjoyment in the activity.

Half way through, she placed her fork down and couldn't bring herself to pick it back up. The tears were flowing freely down her face, again. She had been dreaming of this day for so long, but everything was going wrong and it was her fault.


	96. Chapter 95

**CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE**

Days went by where Simon and I awkwardly interacted. I was worried about how I reacted that day and how I had ruined a perfect moment. It had never been my intention to hurt anyone. The worst thing was, he had been nothing but cordial. I wished that he'd just lose it and tell me to stop being stupid.

"He's giving you time to adjust and get used to him again," Connor told me while we were taking a walk in the park.

"I know, but he shouldn't have to do that!" I exclaimed, frustrated with myself.

We walked through the pathway where a small group of people were congregated.

There were still protestors, but far less. They also seemed frightened of androids, so when we passed, they all fell silent. I could hear them whispering behind our backs when they thought we were out of hearing range.

Connor wound his arm around my waist before I could turn around and confront them. I wasn't a particularly confrontational person, but I was so fed up with how they were treating androids. "They're not worth it, Artie." His kiss to the side of my head was made to comfort, but it also riled up the bigots some more.

Their jeers and exclamations of protests made me only angrier, so I did the only thing I could with Connor's hand firmly around my waist. I turned, grabbed his face and pulled him into a deep kiss.

He sighed, licking the bottom of my lips and slipping it into my mouth. I went from doing it to spite the spectators to losing myself to Connor and the passion I never knew he had. He had been so robotic and exasperating when I first made him. He was still exasperating, but his robotic nature had been transformed into quirky innocence.

"Mm… Connor…" I moaned, tangling my fingers into his hair.

He gently broke away, resting his forehead on mine with a smile on his face. "They're taking photos of us."

I didn't even care, anymore. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Artie." He closed his eyes before saying, "Simon also loves you."

Of course… And I loved Simon. Every part of me knew that, but it couldn't remove the immobilising fear I felt every time I grew close to him. It was something I had to move past and the only way to do so was to find myself, again.

I had given CyberLIfe my resignation letter shortly after it came back into operations. Peter was the only one who protested against my decision, but he understood why I had to do it. There weren't a lot of people I could trust there and with my questionable sanity at stake, I knew that I had to concentrate on sorting myself out first.

Luckily, I had enough money saved up for at least several more months.

Connor was also earning an actual salary, now. Jeffrey had fought hard for it and I was eternally grateful. Hank was also there to help out when he could. He'd come by at least once a week with burgers, complaining about how the androids were feeding me rabbit food. He'd also bring Sumo.

The large St. Barnard never failed to lift the mood. We all spoiled the cute boy rotten and he happily lapped it all up.

"Hank, I just received a call from the station. There is a new case," Connor suddenly said, standing up and staring intently at Hank.

The lieutenant frowned before taking out his phone. "What? I didn't get a – "

"Let's go!" Connor exclaimed, pulling the man to his feet and practically dragging him out the front door.

"What the Hell are you doing, Connor?!" Hank barked, causing Sumo to also bark.

When they were gone, I rested my cheek on his furry back, staring at Simon who was sitting stiffly while looking at the television screen. He didn't need to since he had a direct connection to broadcasts. I gathered that that was only for my benefit.

I continued to stare at him, until Sumo got bored and began to nudge my head to the side with his nose. "What is it, boy?" I asked, wondering what now he was being moody.

He let out a whimper and nudged me, again.

It took me a moment to realise that he was slowly moving me towards Simon. When I glanced at the PL600, I noticed him quickly shifting his eyes back on the screen, trying to appear as if he wasn't just looking at me.

I clenched my eyes shut before letting out a slow breath. I could do this. I just needed to break through this wall of anxiety.

Deep breaths…

Deep breaths…

My eyes opened and I slowly scooted over to the other side of the couch where the side touched the armchair. "S-Simon?"

His LED flashed red for a second before going to yellow. "Yes, Artie?" he quietly and cautiously replied, turning to me slowly as if he was afraid I'd run.

The soft smile could not hide the sad blue eyes. Sadness that I caused. Was I so weak as to allow my doubts and insecurities to ruin something so precious to me? Was my love so frail?

No, I loved Simon.

And right now, I was certain that Simon thought I hated him or feared him, but I didn't. It wasn't him I was afraid of. I'd never fear him.

I reached out a hesitant hand to his face. He was completely motionless. The only indication that he was processing anything was from the colour of his LED, rotating through the colours. "I… I'm sorry…"

Taking a deep breath, I finally told him everything. "Mr. Graff and Amanda had used your face to put me into a vulnerable, intimate position. I let myself believe everything like an idiot and… it's not your fault. I can't get it out of my head that I might still be trapped there – that all of this is fake and could be taken away from me in an instant."

He remained silent.

What if I had irreversibly damaged our relationship?

I had everything and now, I was back to living with only half my heart.

"Please… I'm so sorry." The tears welled up in my eyes and when he continued to remain perfectly still, I leaned forward.

He allowed our lips to touch in a delicate kiss. Any sudden movement would shatter the moment.

"Artie…" he mumbled against me, but I hushed him with my lips, again.

 _His_ face appeared, taunting me with his teasing smile and promises of dark pleasure, but I quickly pushedhim away. He was not Simon. Whatever we did now had nothing to do with the imposter.

I was safe.

I needed to believe that I was safe or I was going to lose all grip of reality.

I leaned forward a little more, until I was in his lap, straddling him.

"I love you. I love you so much," I murmured.

I wasn't going to allow _me_ to come in between this.


	97. Chapter 96

**CHAPTER NINETY-SIX**

His hands hesitantly wrapped around my waist, pulling me just a little closer. He leaned back just enough for me to take in a deep breath before stealing it away from me again.

Even then, it didn't feel as if we were close enough. "Please, Simon…"

He stood up, lifting me with him and made his way upstairs where we were no longer in Sumo's eye line.

It had been a while since he entered my bedroom, but there was nowhere else I wanted him to be at that moment.

"Are you sure? I do not wish to frighten or hurt you," he said, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb.

I hummed, falling backward on to the mattress and taking him with me.

He sighed, nuzzling my neck. "I love you."

My hands groped around, tugging at his shirt. When it wouldn't easily come apart, I was about to rip the buttons off, but he quickly stopped me and smoothly pulled it over his head, revealing the perfect body underneath.

It was then that I realised there were difference between him and the imposter. The body was not technically perfect. There was a small blemish on the left side right between his ribs. I ran my hand along the mark, wondering what had caused it. Had it always been there?

"I received it during the time I was at Jericho. I was injured and there was no way for me to stop the bleeding, so Lucy – one of the other deviants there – had used a torch to seal the damage," he told me, taking my hand away from the spot and shifting so that I could no longer see it. "I apologise for the unseemly sight."

"Unseemly?" I repeated. "There is nothing unseemly about you, Simon. I like this. I think it gives you character, but if you don't like it, I can – "

"No," he quickly cut in. "I do not mind. It does not affect me."

I smiled, continuing to explore his body with my hands. He was pleasantly warm – just the right temperature to feel the heat that was brewing within me. Soon, I was also tugging at his pants. I knew that I was being far too bold, but the days being so close yet so far from him had been all riled up.

He didn't hesitate to discard his clothes on top of his shirt. It was then that I realised he did not wear any underwear.

His member was stiff, hard, and pressed against his navel. Shyly, I ran my hand down the length. This wasn't the virtual world. He might not actually be able to fit inside me.

"Would you allow me to remove your clothes?" he asked, tugging at my shirt as I had done with his.

I nodded my consent and soon, I was completely nude beneath him.

Unlike the imposter, he was gently and made sure I was alright with everything before proceeding. He explored my body as I did with his and settled them on my breasts.

His head leaned down, capturing a nipple with his lips. His tongue swirled around the quickly stiffening peak, causing my toes to curl and I let out a low moan.

Taking this as a good sign, he ran his hand down the side of my body and made his way to the point between my legs. A long finger slid down to my slit, rubbing it back and forth, until it was slick with my juice.

"Are you sure you want this, Artie? I do not wish to hurt you." He peered into my eyes through thick, blonde lashes.

I nodded. "Please, Simon. I've waited so long and… I'd like to make new memories for you to erase the ones that were tainted by the one Amanda had made."

He shifted his hip so that his cock was lined with my entrance. "Tell me if I'm hurting you. I understand that you have not had an intimate partner since moving to Detroit. It will take some adjusting."

"I'll be fine, Simon," I sighed, pulling his lips to mine. "Take me. I'm yours."

I felt the head begin to push in, stretching me. A whimper let my lips. It wasn't so much that it hurt. It was just uncomfortable, but it wasn't long before I was ready. I arched my hip, pushing him a little deeper. Inch by inch he entered me, until the tip rested at the cervix and could go no further.

"S-Simon…" I panted. I was so full.

"Is this alright, Artie?" he asked.

"Yes. Yes. Please, move," I moaned. My body was craving more. It needed friction.

He pulled back slowly and inserted back in. The motion was careful and precise. Each thrust was identical to the next. He did not pick up the pace, until I was wantonly begging for more.

I couldn't even believe what I was saying as I continued to spur him on. "More! More! Simon, faster!" He went faster, but still keeping up his steady rhythm that could only be achieved by a machine. "Harder… Harder…" He slammed hard against my cervix. If I was in any sort of rational state, I would've been worried about him breaking me, but as it were, my mind wasn't functional. My body had complete control, becoming consumed by the pleasure that was building from the bottom of my stomach and spreading through the rest of me.

I needed more…

I needed him.

"Simon… Simon!" I cried out his name over and over again as I came, wrapping my legs around him to try to get him to go in deeper still.

He let out a soft gasp and hot spurts of liquid filled me. "I… I apologise. I should have asked you for your permission before – "

I groaned, keeping my legs around him to prevent him from leaving. "I don't mind. It's not as if you can get my pregnant. Can we just… stay like this for a while longer? I don't think I can move."


	98. Chapter 97

**CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN**

Connor came back later in the day after getting an earful from Hank who made it no secret that he thought the RK800 was being stupid. For some reason, his partner knew that he liked Artie and thought it was ridiculous that he was giving the other android some alone time with her. Hank didn't understand how important it was and when he tried to explain, he was bonked on the head.

It hurt Hank and did absolutely no damage to him. He even felt the need to apologise, but Hank was already on another angry rant.

He sighed, smiling as he felt better after spending some alone time with the grumpy lieutenant. Something told him that when he returned, their dilemma would be resolved. He had faith that they could work it out together.

When he walked in with Hank in tow, he found Sumo sleeping on the couch, but the other two residents were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm taking the damn dog back before he starts thinking this is his home," Hank grumbled, tugging at Sumo's collar.

Sumo let out a long whine, but grudgingly followed Hank out of the house, but not without a happy lick and a back to Connor who waved at them.

Alone in the room, he began to wonder where they had gone and what they were doing. He couldn't detect them on the main floor, but he could hear something coming from upstairs in her room and as he approached, the sound matched to something that made his feet falter.

"Simon, please," came the muffled moan.

He hesitantly pushed the wooden door open and saw the two of them in a tangle of limbs on the bed. They were situated sideways, so when he peeked in, she was facing him.

Her eyes widened and she tried to alert the other android, but another moan ripped through her throat.

Instead of speaking, she extended her hand and he took it as an invitation to walk in, which he did. His eyes were fixated on them, travelling from her face to the point where they were connected.

A surge of jealousy hit him. He didn't want to feel this way, but he wanted to be with her, too. Had Hank been right? Had he made a mistake by leaving the two together? He didn't think that they'd be locked in such an intimate embrace.

Filled with uncertainty, Connor took one step, then another and another, until he was right beside the bed.

"Connor…" she panted, arching her back and shuddering when Simon continued to thrust inside her.

He was glad that they definitely were alright with each other again, but he wasn't quite sure how he'd fit in. He wondered if this was going to end up being one of those situations he had seen in one of the Traci's memories. Would Artie enjoy that? He wasn't sure what her preferences were still.

Making up his mind, he took off his jacket and placed it on the back of a chair before placing a knee on the bed. Once he was in reach, she tugged at the top of his pants. Her eyes were half-hooded and dark with what he read as lust.

She wanted him.

Simon shifted before pulling out. Artie immediately let out a whimper and tried to fill the suddenly void inside her, but the blonde turned her to her side and slid back in from the back. Her moan made Connor shudder. Deviant or not, he didn't know that an android could feel this way. The only reason he could come up with was that Elijah Kamski was a sick man.

His pants came off easily and she wrapped her hand around the length of his penis. There was no pleasure in the contact, but her reaction was what caused an error to pop up in front of him.

He wanted something that was irrational for an android. He had no use for something like sex, so why did he want to have it with her?

His eyes flickered over to Simon who was also staring at him, waiting to see what he was going to do. He was trying to figure out the same thing, so he decided to stop thinking and go with whatever Artie wanted.

That seemed to work in his favour because his name fell out of his lips once more in a throaty moan before it was muffled by his member in her mouth. The way she looked at him was too much. He could feel a strange sensation building inside his body. His thirium pump was racing faster than he knew was possible. He was surprised that he wasn't malfunctioning, but that was debatable. There had been several additional error messages popping up in front of him.

He ran his hand through her hair as she continued to suck him.

Soon, something made his body jerk. He let out a groan and before he could stop, something began to squirt out of him, filling her mouth with whatever liquid that was inside him. If he had any space left to process what had happened, he would have realised that it was merely an extremely diluted version of thirium that was completely harmless to humans, but he didn't. He could only concentrate on the sudden need to be with her as closely as he could.

And for some reason, his reaction caused her to climax, writhing between them, until she went limp and his cock slipped out of her mouth.

Did that really just happen?

Connor remained kneeling in front of them as he tried to process what had just happened, until she patted the mattress several times, signalling for him to lie down, which he stiffly obeyed. When she let out a whine and tugged at him, he scooted closer.

Her soft, warm body was pressed against his, now. Her soft, quiet breathing signified that she had already fallen asleep.

Looking over her, he saw Simon staring back at him with a smile on his face.

He couldn't help but smile back.

He was more content than he had ever been.


	99. Chapter 98

**CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT**

I woke up to movement around me. It was subtle, but enough to rouse me from deep slumber, but I was too comfortable to even open my eyes. If a hand wasn't softly exploring my body, I could've easily fallen back asleep.

As it were, the curious digits made it impossible to do anything except concentrate on how they elft a trail of tingles on my skin.

A soft gasp left my lips when they passed over a nipple before settling on tweaking the nub until it was hard and sensitive.

A hand from behind travelled between my legs, rubbing the other bundle of nerves that threatened to drive me mad. It was impossible for me to even try to pretend to be asleep, now.

My body jerked between them, trying to wiggle away, but they kept me sandwiched against them warm, hard bodies.

I let out a whine, feeling the imminent explosion building.

When I felt the head nudge my legs apart, my eyes finally snapped open

Connor had a curious look on his face as he gently began to push into me. His LED was flashing yellow.

Looking behind me, I noticed that Simon's LED was behaving in the same manner. They were silently communicating with each other – conspiring against me.

"C-Connor," I moaned, impatiently trying to make him pick up the pace. I was already drenched and ready and he was going far too slowly for my taste, but Simon's grip on my hip prevented me from moving very far. "Please… please… please…"

He pushed in deeper and deeper. His eyes closed when he was finally as deep as he could go.

"Is this… alright? Am I hurting you?" he asked, not understand what he was making me feel. How could he even think that I was being harmed when I was begging him like this? How much more obvious did I have to be?

"Move, Connor!" I growled, leaning my head back to rest against Simon's chest.

He blinked. "Got it."

And then, he moved and he moved _fast_.

I was completely unprepared, letting out a startled yelp as he relentlessly moved in and out of me. "Ngh!"

I hadn't expected him to be so rough, but it felt good. The ache between my legs fuelled the pleasure that was coursing inside my body. I had no chance to even process anything before the first orgasm ripped through me.

His name echoed in the house. I was certain that even the neighbours would be able to hear it.

He didn't stop. He kept going, looking as if the steady, hard movement was the only thing he was focussed on.

Simon tilted my head to the side and buried his face against my neck. His teeth grazed my skin, nipping at the soft flesh. The finger slipped back between my legs to tease me right above where Connor was relentlessly sliding in and out. Every once in a while, he'd slide down to my slit, feeling the member move.

I was babbling incoherently, not knowing what I was trying to say. All I knew was that a second release was closing in on me and there was no way for me to stop it.

Connor suddenly lost his rhythm and I could feel liquid filling me. I was quick to follow, squeezing him for more. Only then did he finally stop for me to try to catch my breath, but my body was still convulsing against them.

"Good morning, Artie," Simon pleasantly greeted me as if it was just another normal day.

"G-Good mmm…" I sighed, unable to finish what I wanted to say as it felt as if I was floating on a beautiful, white, fluffy cloud in heaven.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Simon began to disengage. I grabbed at him. He wasn't allowed to leave! My back was going to be cold.

He chuckled as if he could hear my strange thoughts. "I will be back shortly. There is a package that we are awaiting."

Right…

I had forgotten that I had placed another order through Connor. Of course, he gave me a disapproving look, but it didn't take me long for him to checkout and I gave him a kiss of gratitude. That lifted his mood.

Connor seemed to be a little hesitant not only because I was kind of illegally ordering through the company catalogue that I no longer worked for but because the parts were for Sumo. Sumo's body was nearly done. I had initially planned to make an RK800 body for him, but I was fed up with the disaster of the last time I had done that. To avoid any more potential confusion with trying to figure out which one was my Connor, I made some adjustments.

The RK900 was going to have the same body frame, but he was going to have dark red hair and emerald green eyes. I discussed the changes with Sumo first and he had given me his consent. He seemed happy with just about anything as long as he was out of the Garden.

As nice as that place was, there was nowhere to go and nothing to do. Even with the canine Sumo I had made for him, I knew that I had to get him out before he lost his mind. I was surprised with how patient he had been with me, especially with me ranting his ears off, while I was having issues.

He had become something of an android diary, listening to everything I said and appropriately responding. Not once did he bring up the topic of a body as if he blindingly believed that I would keep my word, which I intended to do, but I was still baffled. It had been a good few weeks.

"I love you, Artie," Connor whispered, tilting my chin to claim my lips and successfully breaking me away from my thoughts.

I hummed, mumbling back to him, while pulling him back into a kiss.

He liked to indulge me.


	100. Chapter 99

**CHAPTER NINETY-NINE**

I gazed proudly at what I had created. I doubt checked – triple checked – everything. The RK900 was an upgraded version of Connor. It had a wider radius of audio, visual, and heat detection. T he artificial skin was a little tougher with an increased rate of regeneration. The processing unit was faster and it had a larger memory storage unit.

Connor was frowning beside me, the creases growing deeper and deeper as I looked over everything.

I turned to him when I was done. "Are you jealous?" I teasingly asked.

"No," he quickly replied before looking down. "Maybe… I have difficulty identifying what I am currently feeling."

I cupped his cheeks with my hands. "Do you hate that I've spent so long working on Sumo's body – that it's a newer version of the RK800? Do you hate that Sumo is actually going to be here in the real world with us? Do you… dislike Sumo?"

He looked to the side, gently seizing my wrists. "I wished that you'd spend those hours with me. You could've given him another body – a pre-made one. I'm sure he'd be fine with it, but I am under no delusion that there will be no more RK series androids. I don't care about that. I… I don't dislike Sumo. I just dislike that you think about him so much."

As he was deep in his self-realisation, I let out a giggle. He still had so much to learn. "I love you, Connor. The only one you have to worry about sharing me with is Simon and maybe Hank's Sumo, too. He's such a cute, little puppy…"

"Little puppy?" Connor tilted his head. "Sumo is a large dog and is too old to be considered a puppy. In a few years, he is most likely to be d – "

I quickly shushed him. "No! No need to continue that. And Sumo will always be a little puppy to me!"

He sighed, finally a smile travelling to his lips. "Okay. Sumo is a puppy. I like Sumo, too. I don't mind sharing you with him."

"Good. Now that I have your approval, do you mind connecting the cable to the body?" I asked, smoothing out the t-shirt I had on him. I didn't have anything official, yet, so whatever I had in the house was going to have to do.

He did as he was told and I finally began the transfer. It was a long process. The estimated time was four hours, so we went back upstairs to where Simon was currently shirtless.

I blinked.

Where had it gone? He was definitely _not_ shirtless when I last saw him.

That was when I noticed his hair was slightly mussed. It seemed like he tried to fix it, but there were still strands flying upward.

"Where did your shirt go?" I asked, wondering if I had made a mistake of asking.

He looked sheepishly back at me. If androids could blush, I was sure that he'd be bright red.

His eyes flickered over to Connor, so I turned to the RK800. "Connor?"

"Yes?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What have you two been doing while I was downstairs?"

"We were playing and practicing for you," he truthfully replied, but I had a feeling that those innocent words were really not so innocent.

"And what were you guys playing exactly?" I asked, tugging him down by his tie.

His LED flashed yellow. It took him a moment to reply. "Would you like me to show you?" His voice became husky and his eyes darkened with lust in a way that I never knew an android could. "I had recently downloaded a Traci patch that was compatible to my operating software.

"Tr-Traci?" I blinked in shock. When did Connor start patching himself? I mean… Sure he was a deviant and could do whatever he liked, but… But… What exactly was he doing with that new found freedom of his?!

"Yes." He nodded, agreeably. "Allow me to show you what I"ve learned. I have also shared some files with Simon."

"W-Wait!"

A pair of arms suddenly lifted me up.

My eyes widened as Connor quickly tore my pants away with one smooth motion before doing the same for himself. "We should go to the bedroom first!" I protested, completely shocked by how brazen they were being.

"I would like to try it here. There is something I wish to test," Connor argued, rubbing his member against me.

Test?! What was he trying to test?!

"Simon, are you really going along with this?" I exclaimed, wiggling futilely against him.

He smiled back. "I agree with Connor that this will be something you'll enjoy. We had practised some of the manoeuvres and determined it a safe activity.

Practise…

With each other?!

There was so much blood rushing up and down my body that I was becoming light headed.

They must've just been going at it while I was putting the final touches on Sumo. I wish I could've been there to see it…

Witnessing their kiss made me realise how much I enjoyed the idea of them loving each other as much as they loved me. Yes, I wanted a happy union of three people, but it was definitely more than that.

Connor leaned down to kiss me as he entered, swallowing my moan. "Do you trust us?" he asked, leisurely moving inside me.

I nodded, almost frantically. "With my life." But they were killing me with how slowly they were going!

Simon passed me over to Connor who slid even further into me. There was a rustle of fabric as I remained impaled. "Connor… W-What are you guys doing?"

Then, I felt something nudge me from behind.

"No… No, wait!" I gasped. I had never done anything like this before! I hadn't been very adventurous in my university years.

"Shh…" Connor hushed me. "Relax. As long as you relax, this will be enjoyable. I have done extensive research and learned that with time, you will fully adjust to both of us together."

I whined, shaking my head. "He's not going to fit!"

They were literally going to tear me in two!

Simon kissed my jaw. "Relax, Artie. We would never hurt you."

A long finger finally pushed in, gently massaging the tight passage as he tried to loosen me enough to replace it with something much larger.

The strange feeling was uncomfortable. I had never felt anything inside me in such a way before. It was unnatural, but not necessarily unpleasant.

He slid his finger back out and inserted two in its place, then three. I was, now, panting and moaning. The uncertainty was gone. I just wanted more.

They nodded at each other before a thick column of artificial flesh began to make its way inside me. I could feel the two of them rub against each other through the thin membrane that separated the two members.

"Does it hurt?" Simon asked, stroking my backside as he slowly began to thrust.

"No," I sighed, laying my head on Connor's shoulder.

The two of them moved in perfect tandem.

While I was slowly drowning in pleasure, I felt them shift and then, their lips crashed down on one another. I could see their tongues exploring each other's mouths.

 _Practising_ …

It was all too much…

Too much…

Their names ripped out of my lips in a loud scream. I shook and convulsed against them.

Simon finally broke the kiss and nuzzled my neck. "I love you."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Okay these past few chapters are really just for indulgence... There's really only one chapter left of the main body of the story and then... I'll probably do a few random scenarios and a list of things that I mused over, but never wrote about. I'll post the list tomorrow with the last chapter.

Also... OFFICIALLY CHAPTER 100 (including prologue)!


	101. Chapter 100

**CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED**

I groaned, painfully getting off Connor who had been acting as my bed and pillow after I assumed I had pass out from our strenuous activity.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"It is currently eight fifty-four in the evening," he replied.

I gasped, bolting to my feet. "Sumo!" I had nearly forgotten about him! It should be about time that his transfer was complete.

With an uncomfortable limp, I made my way to my lab and found him sitting up on the table, looking around with curiosity. "H-Hey, Sumo!"

He turned his head towards me and smiled, but it quickly faded into confusion. His LED changed from blue to yellow to red. I wasn't sure what was causing this. Perhaps just from him trying to adjust? "Hello, Artie."

"Sorry, I wasn't here when you woke up," I quickly apologised. "I lost track of time. How are you feeling? I know this body isn't identical to the one you're used to, but I thought you'd like a bit of your own individuality and didn't want to be confused for Connor."

"I love my new body. You told me of the changes and I agreed with everything. I am extremely grateful for everything you've done for me," he replied. "But may I ask you a question?"

"Yes?" Of course, he'd have a lot of things to ask. He had never been in the real world and he had been trapped in a very small plot of lane for a few weeks. I was prepared to help him adjust and I knew that it shouldn't take long since he had most of Connor's memories already.

"Why are you naked?"

I froze.

That wasn't what I expected, at all.

Looking down at myself, I realised that he was right. In my hurry, I had neglected one crucial detail before coming down here.

I ran back to my room and threw on the first article of clothing I saw, which happened to be the bunny pyjamas that I had once accidentally worn to the police station. It was just going to keep racking up strange, embarrassing memories.

When I was downstairs, I noticed that Sumo was awkwardly lurking behind the door to the lab. "What are you doing there?"

"I apologise. I did not wish to intrude in case there are places you don't want me to visit," he told me.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand to pull him across the threshold. "Really? You know I have no problems with it. Come on, I'll introduce you to Simon. You already know Connor."

He obediently followed me into the living room where Connor and Simon were sitting across from each other with their favourite board game between them. They were already deep in concentration, capturing piece after piece.

I cleared my throat.

Simon was the first to turn to me. "Hello." He blinked, curiously observing the new android.

"Hello," Sumo formally reciprocated.

There was a moment of stillness where the only sound was Connor moving his pieces with no care to the awkward introduction happening in front of him.

"I win," he declared, being the one to break the silence.

Simon immediately turned his head back to observe the board. A look of shock was on his face. "You cheated!" he accused.

"No, I didn't," Connor argued back. He proceeded to explain everything in great detail, while Simon tried to make his own conclusion.

I let out a sigh and turned to Sumo. "Sorry, this is a bit of a dysfunctional family. I'm not sure if you'd want to stay here or not, but there'll always be a spot for you in this house."

"I'd like to stay here for now," he told me. "I'm not sure about later because I still don't know where I fit in. I'm thinking of asking Captain Fowler if I could work with the DPD."

"Is that what you want or what's programmed in you?" I asked, glancing worriedly at the heated debate.

"It's what I want. I don't know anything else. If I find something I like, I'll go with that later. For now, I'd like to contribute to society." He smiled widely at me.

Well, that was good. He was very amiable, unlike the duo who was _still_ passive-aggressively trying to figure out what happened with the game.

The next few days were a bit of a juggle. Connor still didn't get along with Sumo, but Simon had absolutely no problem with him. I tried to ease the RK800's worries, but no matter how many times I repeated it, he still didn't like seeing me spend any time with the newest addition to the household.

Fortunately, Sumo made it perfectly clear that he was alright with keeping his distance to keep from triggering Connor anymore than he already did. A lot of our time together was heavily monitored by the brunet. They had very similar schedules and came home at roughly the same time.

Jeffrey had accepted Sumo without much consideration. He already knew that the android was fully capable of handling himself. The only thing that really worried me was that fact that Sumo was working with Detective Gavin Reed. That man was known to be very aggressive with androids.

Whenever I asked Sumo if he was being bullied, he always denied it.

"I believe he is slowly warming up to me. I find the challenge very stimulating," was his reply.

I shook my head in exasperation.

It wasn't long after that I received a call from an unknown number. I let it go to voice mail before listening to the message.

Elijah Kamski.

I hadn't expected to hear from him ever again, but there he was contacting me.

 _"I know you're screening your calls, but I have a proposition for you. I have taken the role of Department Head of Humanisation and I am currently missing a lead Engineer. You will find that several of your old colleagues are not longer working for the company, but rest assure that I have replaced them with very capable hands._

 _Do not feel obligated to accept this offer._

 _However, I have seen the new android you have produced and I believe there is better use for that skill than to hole up in your home like a hermit._

 _I will be expecting your reply no later than Friday."_

He hung up without even saying goodbye. Not only that, he was a complete hypocrite for chastising me about being a hermit when he basically disappeared for a few years.

Despite all this, I still found myself in front of the tall building that I swore I was never going to go to again.

The people inside moved around as they normally did, until one of them noticed me. That was when a wave of whispers began. I went from being a convict to being the victim. The gossip was never going to stop.

Just as I was about to turn around and run, a large presence stepped out from the elevator. It was as if he had absolute control over every person in the lobby.

He walked across with steady strides and stopped in front of me. "I'm glad you made it. Why don't we talk in my office?"

The eyes were still on me, but no one spoke a word.

I was relieved when I was away from the public.

"Well?" He stared at me from behind the desk.

I stared back at him for a little longer. It was strange seeing him in anything remotely formal, but there he was in a half buttoned up dress shirt and black slacks. A Chloe stood off to the side with her hands clasped in front of her.

"I'd like to give it a try," I finally told him. "But I want the option to leave if there are any issues."

"Of course. You are not imprisoned here. I've also amended your benefits package, along with negotiating the compensation from the company after what you experienced." He handed me a tablet.

I quickly read everything over. The compensation was generous. I was going to be able to live comfortably for a long while just on that alone. He had also increased my salary and added several items to the benefits. The main thing were regular visitations to a therapist.

I wanted to believe that I was strong enough to recover on my own, but with recurring nightmares and occasional freak out sessions during intimate moments with Simon, I knew that I needed them.

"I can give you the number to the one I frequent," he said, sliding a small card over.

I pocketed it. "Thank you."

With the stylus, I quickly signed my name.

"Good. It would be a shame to lose someone like you in our field," he stated. "Now, why don't you go take a look at your office? You'll find that I have added several new additions to it."

Feeling a hint of suspicion, I shot him a look before nodding my head.

The familiar corridor brought up the anxiety that always seemed to just be under the surface. Every little thing could trigger it. There was really no rhyme or reason. It could hit me after a meal, during a meal, when I'm in the loo or just watching television.

"Connor? Simon?"

What were they doing in my office?

Didn't Connor have work? Then again, it was still early and Hank was probably not at the station, yet.

"Hello, Artie," they both greeted me.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Simon smiled, swinging one arm to the side as if he was a bellboy. "Please, have a seat. Connor said he had something to show me."

What were they up to, now?

I gingerly sat down on the new, plush chair. There was no doubt in my mind that it was top quality. Kamski really spared no expense with the new furnishing.

"Lift your feet up. Judging by your quickened pulse and dilated pupils, I assume that you are in need of some relaxation." Connor placed his hand on the back of the chair, gazing warmly down at me.

He, then, turned to Simon. "You must place your hand like this." He took Simon's hand and positioned them accordingly

I tilted my head up. "Kiss first."

Simon obliged first and then Connor.

The RK800 straightened his back, a satisfied smile on his face before he turned back to Simon once more. "Now, be prepared for we will be engaging in the sport of spinning chairs."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Aaaand THAT'S IT, GUYS!

Kinda...

I mean... I still plan to write stuff with Artie, Connor, Simon, Sumo... Everyone, soooo I'm going to be posting a list of random of things after this. Have a look at it after you've read this :D

Also, special thanks to guest ( **Alice Cullen** ) who had been so supportive through every chapter. Thank you so, so much!

Thank you as well to everyone who has made it this far.

This is really just a list of random thoughts throughout the writing of this story and maybe little turning points that really never happened, but I plan on writing some of them as AUs/One-Shots. I'm also open to any suggestions for little short bits to write, but I won't be posting daily anymore. This has been a very enjoyable and intense run.

In the first month, I contemplated transferring Simon into the RK900, but that would be strange and interesting. Can you imagine Artie with basically two Connors (but with Simon's personality in one of them)? (Thoughts on Sept.15/18: Obviously this idea stayed with me because Sumo was born…) Kamski holding Artie hostage instead and using her as a sex slave to manipulate Connor. North dying in the first encounter with Connor. Replacing Agent Perkins with Norman Jayden from Heavy Rain because I saw someone else do this and I really liked it, but I also didn't want to copy the writer. North dying during the invasion of Jericho (either by Connor's hands when he confronts Markus or by the soldiers when Connor left her to die). Contemplated Artie smut with Connor and/or Simon every chapter (Do you know how hard it was to not just forget about the entire plot and just let them go at it like bunnies?!) 25 Chapters of fluff? (Nah! Too hard for me!) (Thoughts on Sept.15/18: This was typed when I was at Chapter 50 or so and never thought I was going to make it to Chapter 100…) Hank dying somewhere between Chapter 75-100 Connor never turning deviant (or just a permanent resident of the Nile) Markus and Simon romance Josh and Simon romance Connor dying and Artie transferring his memory into the RK900 (made to be more durable than RK800, so more convenient for clumsy Connor) Bring Simon back with no memories of Artie Bring Simon back with no memories of his love for Artie and not deviant Chapter of just Sumo North dies in downtown Detroit Connor's files slowly become corrupted by Amanda and he fades away during downtown Detroit scene (This one kinda happened) Simulation Simon ending up being Amanda in disguise (but not even I'm that evil) Simulation Simon ending up being Graff in disguise (because he could be a sick bastard) Connor harem smut (*winkwinknudgenudge*) Elevator AI named Idris Make an android Sumo Connor and Simon smut 


	102. The Life of Sumo

**THE LIFE OF SUMO**

He wagged his tail, watching his owner mumble to himself. He was bored. When was the other owner going to be here? The other owner smelled nice and he liked to play with Sumo.

Sumo liked to play catch.

"I'm sorry, Cole… I'm so sorry…"

He got up and padded over to Hank. He liked Hank too, but Hank was always sad. He didn't like it when Hank was sad. It made Sumo sad, too.

His nose brushed the beer-splattered fingers, until the digits went behind his ears, scratching his favourite spot.

Yes, he liked Hank a lot. Hank made him happy, but he didn't know how to make Hank happy.

Suddenly, the sound of the door rattling caught his attention. He gave a happy bark as soon as it opened and he smelled the other owner stroll in.

He walked over, rubbing his head against the long legs.

Fingers went behind his ear and gave it a delightful scratch.

Sumo really liked scratches.

"Hi, Sumo," Owner #2 greeted, kneeling down so that Sumo could lick him. Owner #2 was so considerate.

His nose caught the scent of something else, so he nudged the owner's other hand, until there was a laugh and he was finally given the yummy treats.

"Is Hank in the kitchen?"

His head perked up as he began to tug him to where Hank was in his funny mood. Owner #2 made Hank happy. He would be able to help Hank.

"Da fuck are you doing here?" Hank grumbled, slamming his drink down on the table and sloshing it everywhere. "Don't ya have a girl to tend to?"

"Artie is with Simon, right now. They're doing some grocery shopping together," Owner #2 replied. "You shouldn't be drinking so much. It's bad for your liver."

"Shut up!" Hank slurred. "Everybody's gotta die some time, Connor! Even you plastic fucks! Nothing lasts forever!"

Sumo whimpered. He didn't like it when they argued. When Hank made to get up to shout at Connor some more, he plopped his head down on to Hank's lap.

"God damn it!" Hank sighed. "I just want to stop feeling, kid."

Connor looked down. "Cole wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

"What the Hell do you know?" Hank growled, resting his hand on Sumo's head.

Sumo liked that.

He didn't understand much of what they were saying. Only several words were recognised – Hank, Cole, Connor. He could sometimes remember Owner #2's name, but not always. Remembering things were hard, these days. But Cole... He remembered Cole.

Cole was the human child who really liked to play with him when he was only a tiny pup. That was when Hank was happier. HE didn't know why, but one day, Cole was gone. It made him really sad, but Hank was sadder.

After Cole was gone, Nancy also left. He did not see either of them every again. He had waited by the window every day for many days, wondering when they were going to return, but they never did.

Sumo was very sad.

He thought Cole and Nancy didn't like him anymore and that was why they were gone. Hank also didn't want anything to do with him.

Sumo was very, very sad.

Some days, Hank would even forget to take him for walks and feed him. Some days, Hank would fall asleep and not wake up. He hated those days the most. It felt as if Hank was also going to leave him, one day.

Even if he barked and licked him, he wouldn't wake up. He was scared that one day, Hank would never wake up.

It wasn't until Connor came that Hank was happier.

Sumo's first encounter with the other owner was strange. Connor had broken he window and rolled in, startling Sumo from his slumber.

Hank had been sleeping on the floor that night. He was unmovable. The only way Sumo knew that he was alive was by the puffs of air coming from him. Hank really stunk.

Sumo walked back to his bed after realising that the guest wasn't going to hurt Hank. In fact, Connor had managed to wake up his owner.

That made Sumo happy, so he barked when Hank spoke to him.

After that day, Sumo saw more people who liked Sumo.

Sumo was happy.

He also liked going to Connor's house where the female human would also give him lots of treats and rub his ears. She also like to lay her head on Sumo. She smelled nice. She smelled like Connor and Sumo liked Connor a lot.

The female human was very nice to Sumo.

She also had another male like Connor. Sumo could tell that they weren't human, but he wasn't sure what they were.

It didn't matter.

All of them spent a lot of time with Sumo. He liked having attention on him. It was rare when he was home with Hank.

"Sumo is a good boy, aren't you, Sumo?" she cooed, rubbing her face against his.

He happily licked her cheek.

She smelled nice. Like flowers.

Not like Hank, at all.

At the end of the day, however, he still enjoyed sleeping in his own bed, even if Hank is passed out in the kitchen.

Sumo really liked Hank.


	103. When Artie is Away

**When Artie is Away…**

Simon stared at the dish he had made, wondering what he was going to do with it. Artie had called to tell him that she was going to be late. She was working on a new project and was going to have to stay longer in the lab at CyberLife.

He liked to serve her fresh food, but he didn't want this to go to waste. Perhaps he can visit the lieutenant's house to see if he'd like to have it.

With a nod, he began to dial Hank's number. It rang and rang. He couldn't tell if the man was not home or if he was just avoiding the call. Both were equally plausible.

As he was contemplating his options, the front door opened. He hoped that it was Artie and his problem would be resolved, but when he walked out, it was Connor who greeted him.

"Welcome back, Connor," he greeted.

Connor smiled back at him. "Thank you. Is Artie in the library?"

He shook his head. "Artie is not home, yet. She called earlier to inform me that she will be at work for another hour. I made her spaghetti and meatballs already. Do you think Hank would like some?"

The RK800 frowned. "He went to the burger stand despite my recommendation of a healthier meal. I even offered to cook dinner for him, but he was very adamant and threatened to remove our rights to visit Sumo.

"Where is Sumo? Is he not off, yet?" Simon asked. The RK900 was a bit of a workaholic. There would be days where he wouldn't come back until after midnight or even the next day. Thankfully, he was mindful enough to be quiet and not wake up Artie.

"He was out on a case with Detective Reed the last time I checked," Connor replied.

Simon sighed, thinking back to the plate that was sitting in the kitchen, growing colder by the second. All that wasted time… He could've been doing something else, like sweep the floor or wipe down the table or even read a book in the library.

"Hmm…" Connor loosened up his tie and draped it delicately on the arm of the couch before doing the same with his jacket. He had been hoping to see Artie when he got home, but that was alright. His plan had only changed a little. He could fully implement them later.

He walked up to Simon with a smile on his face. "I have several more things to test out before we try it with Artie. I wouldn't want any harm to come to her. Please, kindly remove your clothing."

Simon tilted his head, but did as he was told without question.

Once he was completely bare, Connor ran his hand down his body, stopping at the blemish on his skin. "I'm sure Artie will be able to remove that for you if you'd like."

"No, I like it there. It makes me different. It helps her differentiate between me and another PL600," he replied, placing his hand over Connor's.

"I see." Connor removed the rest of his clothes and turned Simon around so that the other android was facing the wall. "Please give me your feedback after."

With that, he entered Simon from behind, sliding deep into him. There was a soft click where he brushed against one of the inputs. He closed his eyes, transferring a set of data to the blonde.

"I understand," Simon sighed. He enjoyed the close contract with the other android and this was a position he was familiar with.

Images of naked humans entered his processing unit. They were in a different stance than him, so he adjusted his body to replicate what was shown to him.

Connor ran his hand down the pale, smooth back. It was different to Artie's. His was much more defined, while Artie was soft with a slight curve that flattered her bottom.

He didn't bother to wait for him to adjust as he would with Artie. Simon didn't feel pain. Their connection was much different. They took pleasure in being close together and what they presumed they would feel if they had physical pleasure sensors.

His cock slid quickly in and out. The rhythm was perfect – each one the same as the last.

Simon groaned, twisting his head to pull him into a kiss. Like Artie, they both loved to kiss. It was a clear declaration of affection that made their thirium pumps quicken with joy.

Connor dug his fingers into soft strands of hair, pulling the head up. His other hand went down to the member hanging between his partner's legs. With enough stimulation, it would cum as a human's penis would.

"Kneel," he ordered, watching Simon's body fall to his hands and knees.

He reached for the silk tie and tightly bound the base of the cock, preventing Simon from releasing.

"I… I thought this was something we were going to experiment with Artie." Simon was growing uncertain, now. Artie's anatomy was very different to his. The things Connor was doing wouldn't be possible for her.

Connor hummed. "Indeed, but there will be time for that later."

He slammed in and out of Simon, until his first release came. He filled the android deep with his replacement semen, chuckling when Simon fidgeted uncomfortably.

There was swelling right below the tie. Simon felt a strange sense of dissatisfaction. He wanted to cum, but didn't want to interrupt Connor with what he was doing.

He ran his hand down his cock, giving it a few pumps. It twitched like a human penis would. The head was a dark blue. There was no circulation going through the member.

Suddenly, an incoming call message appeared in front of him. He quickly picked up.

"Artie…?"

"Hey, Simon. I'm coming home, now. Sorry I took so long. I'll probably be there in a few minutes. Is Connor home?" she asked.

"Yes, he's home," he replied, clenching his eyes shut when Connor began to move, again.

"I'll see you guys, then. Love you!"

Simon never had a chance to reply when Connor pulled him into another kiss. "W-Wait!" He pulled away. "Artie will be here in a few minutes. We should stop. We need to w-welcome her back."

"Shh…" Connor hushed him, never breaking the rhythm.

Sure to her words, the front door opened a few minutes later and Artie walked in to see them still very much connected in the living room.

She gaped at them in shock. The strange sound she heard during their last call was finally identified.

"W-Welcome h-h-home, Artie," Simon groaned, hanging his head and moaning loudly when Connor finally untied the silk fabric.


	104. Kamski's World

_AU Setting:_ _Where Kamski is the big bad and not Mr. Graff._

 **KAMSKI'S WORLD**

He slipped out of the pool. A Chloe slipped his robe on to his body and he pulled her into a kiss as a reward. She obediently kissed him back.

He ran his hand through his hair, smoothing down the wet, stray strands. Once he deemed himself presentable, he made his way downstairs.

Several Chloe bodies lined the clean, metal walls. He spent a good few hours constructing a new patch to improve their efficiency. It was a very productive day.

There was only one more thing to take care of and then, he was going to have a long bath before bed.

Tilting his head left and right, he heard several _pops_.

He headed to the door at the far side in the lab, hidden by large shelves, not unlike the ones lining the walls. They extended from the ceiling to the pristine, shiny floor.

After pushing a white, headless winged statuette to the side, the shelf slowly swung open. He opened the door that led to a dark room.

Inside was the silhouette of a small frame that was slumped over against the wall.

He flicked a switch and light immediately flooded the steel chamber. They shrunk away as he approached them.

"What must you be feeling, now? More than what I could say for that deviant of yours," he mused, pulling her hair up so that she would stop trying to hide from him.

With a smirk, he stole her lips, pressing her into a deep kiss. Her feeble attempts to move her face away were futile.

She spat in his face as soon as he moved for air. He wiped the wet spot with the back of his hand. The quirk never leaving his lips. "I just had my tongue down your throat. Do you really think that that would bother me?"

"Why are you doing this, Kamski?" she growled, glaring at him.

He straightened his back, observing her as she tried her best to look intimidating, but she was nothing but an angry kitten. He was going to have to attach a little bell to that black collar.

"Why not? Your android is willing to do anything to get you back and I hate to admit it, but I am very impressed with the modifications you have done to him. I find him very fascinating, particularly how adamantly he denies his deviancy. While everyone else thinks it is an error, you strived to create it and feed it… Because of this, you have made him easy to manipulate," he explained, smiling down at her.

…

I pulled at the chains keeping me from wrapping my hands around his neck. "And I made him to be _clever_. He is _never_ going to fall for your pathetic trap!" I snarled.

It was infuriating that my words only managed to further amuse him. I wished that I knew what a crazy bastard he was before I want here to ask him for help to save Simon.

 _Chloe opened the door as she did last time. She greeted me with a gentle, automatic smile, gesturing for me to enter, so I did._

 _I waited for Kamski in the lobby, staring at the face of Amanda Stern. I still suspected that she was somehow connected to the program in Connor, but why? What was her purpose? Ws she there to make sure that he didn't turn deviant?_

 _She hadn't been there before. I would've noticed such a large file occupying Connor's CPU. The only time I could really think of was when he downloaded the DPD patch files. I was going to have to ask Jeffrey about that later._

 _"What a surprise. You're here by yourself?"_

 _I turned to see Kamski in loose shorts and a white unbuttoned shirt. His hair was still in a tight bun behind his head. "I apologise for dropping by unannounced, but I was hoping that you'd be able to help me with something._

 _"Oh?" He lifted his eyebrow. "And what is it that you want me to do?"_

 _I quickly explained by situation to him, watching his unmoving face for anything that would indicate that he was going to be able to put together the missing part of my heart. When I was done, he still kept me waiting. "If you can't or won't do it, just tell me. I understand. You have no obligations to help me."_

 _"Come, why don't I show you where I work and you can decide if I can help you or not," he told me. Without another word, he began to walk away._

 _I followed behind, gazing at the rest of the house in amazement. It was very clean chic. He had an awesome simple elegance to him that made me very envious. I was nothing like that._

 _Despite always telling Connor that he was clumsy, I was really the same way. There was no grace in my at all. I wasn't rich. I was someone who was still struggling with living in Detroit, trying to make something of myself._

 _He opened a door and down we continued, until we were engulfed in clean steel all around. There were shelves and shelves of android parts. It was enough to make me drool._

 _"Do you still work on new androids here?" I asked, wondering what creations he had made after retiring. A brilliant man like him would never just give up on his passion._

 _"I dabble," he replied without even casting a glance at me. "It's something to occupy my time. This way, Artemisia. I will show you what I have that may help you with your issue."_

Help me, indeed…

As I was distracted, he had knocked me out and left me cuffed in a rather luxurious closet of miscellaneous items. He had left me confused and in turmoil for days before finally expressing his interest in Connor.

I didn't know why he was so fascinated with him. I had created Connor with his base coding, changing and adding small details to make him how I wanted him to be, but he wasn't anything special. Well, he was special to me. I just didn't think anyone else would share my sentiment.

Well, clearly he was interested in Connor in a very different way.

"Artemisia, don't you see? That android of yours is willing to do anything for you." He retrieved his phone. "When I gave him that gun, I fully expected him to shoot Chloe for it. His refusal to do so was a surprise and I'd very much like to have a look at what you've done."

"Hello? Connor, this is Elijah Kamski," he spoke into the phone. "I heard that you were looking for someone and would like to help in any way that I can."

Connor? He was setting the trap! "No!" I shouted. "Don't come here, Connor! Call the police! He – "

A hand came down hard on my cheek, snapping my head to the side. It was already throbbing with pain.

"Yes, well… As I was saying, I believe that I can help you," he chuckled. "There is no need to become angry…. Oh? You still do not think you're a deviant? I guess we'll have this discussion here, won't we? Do come here alone. Your dear Artie is waiting. I wouldn't want anything to happen to her."

With that, he hung up, giving me a smug look.

If Connor came here, then Kamski would win. I hoped that he'd at least tell Hank. I wouldn't be able to bear losing him, as well. I'd rather die.

"Don't worry, he will be coming here. I'll have Chloe bring you something to eat."

I sat helplessly on the cold floor, dreading what was to come. What would Kamski do to Connor once he arrived? From what that man told me, he was going to dissect Connor.

"Good evening, Artemisia. I have prepared lobster macaroni and cheese." A Chloe walked in with a tray. "There is also champagne and a cold glass of water."

She knelt down beside me and tried to feed me the first bite, but I turned my head to spite her. The aroma made my stomach rumble, but I refused to take anything from the despicable man.

"If food is not to your taste, then please hold still while I connect this." Chloe put the fork down and took out an IV bag.

I let out a yelp, shaking my head. I wasn't going to allow them to put anything into my blood! "Fine! I'll eat it! Just get that away from me!"

With a smile, she patiently fed me bite after bite. It was as delicious as it smelled and in record time, I was done. The champagne also helped me relax. Within half an hour, I was asleep.

…

Connor had returned to Hank's house after delivering the army of androids to Markus. What happened after was up to the deviant leader.

He hadn't expected to find a terminated Simon on the couch nor Artie to be missing. He was regretful that the other android was no longer functional, but he had more important matters to dwell on.

Upon looking around, he found Hank passed out drunk and Sumo who walked up to him when he entered the kitchen. Sumo was a good dog.

"Hank…" He patted the man's cheek.

Nothing.

With a sigh, he raised his hand and hit him harder. "Wake up, lieutenant!"

The man let out a yelp and fell off the chair. "… Da fuck?!"

"I apologise, lieutenant, but do you know where Artie has gone? She is not in the house," he said.

It took Hank a moment, but then he remembered the note Sumo hd given him before he passed out again. "I swear… you bastards are all going to be the death of me!" He thrust the paper into the RK800's hand.

Connor quickly scanned the paper. Just then, someone as trying to call him. He picked up the line and was greeted by Elijah Kamski.

Once he heard Artie's voice, he knew that something had gone horribly wrong. He told Hank that he needed a ride to Kamski's home to retrieve her.

It was unwise to ask the man who had been passed out drunk, but by the vapours coming from his mouth, he detected that most off the alcohol had been metabolised already and he was almost at legal limits to drive, again.

Without any protests, Hank retrieved his keys and the two of them made their way to the large estate.

"I'll come with you," Hank offered after parking just behind a line of trees and boulders.

Connor shook his head. 'Stay here. It will be dangerous."

"Yeah? So's everything else we've done. It's kind of part of the line of work," Hank snorted, getting his gun.

"No, lieutenant. Kamski also told me to go alone. I will call you if I require assistance, but Artie is in danger. I must do everything I can to ensure that she is safe first," he stated.

With a sigh, Hank conceded, watching the android march over to the door, while he stayed hidden.

Connor was greeted by a Chloe. If he knew what she had become an accomplice to, he would've killed her when he had the chance.

"Please, stay here while I inform the master that you have arrived."

Nothing changed. There was no evidence that he had taken her by force, at all. From the note, he gathered that Kamski had used her desperation to lure her in. It only made him angrier that someone would take advantage of her like that.

When Kamski arrived, it appeared as if he had just come out of a shower or bath. "That was quick," he chuckled. 'But it is very good to see you."

"Where is Artie?" Connor demanded.

Kamski smiled pleasantly back at him. "Why don't you follow me? I'll take you to her."

…

I let out a groan, shifting to my side. Instead of a cold, hard surface, I had my face buried in a case of fluff. If it hadn't been for the voices outside, I would've easily fallen back asleep.

My eyes cracked open and I found myself in a room of black and white. The dark cover was smooth and felt like a thin layer of fluid on my bare skin. I wouldn't mind staying here forever.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes again.

I rubbed my legs along the expensive sheets, loving every inch of it. If only Connor and Simon were here as well, I'd –

Wait…

Bare skin?!

I jolted up, feeling the material slide off my body, revealing pale skin beneath it. Where was I and why was I naked?!

Turning my head to the side, I saw a Chloe standing by the door with her hands clasped in front of her. There was no reaction from her at all. She remained staring blankly in front of her.

Right, Kamski had me captive, but I wasn't cuffed anymore. With a burst of adrenaline, I wrapped the blanket around me and tried to make a run for it.

Unfortunately, there was a horrible shock through my body and my ears began to ring. I collapsed on to my knees, holding my head in pain.

"Artie!"

"Oh, dear…"

A pair of arms wrapped around me, holding me close against his chest, while I sobbed in pain. The shocks were gone, but the ringing remained, along with a horrible headache. "C-Connor?"

"I'm here, Artie," he told me, kissing the top of my head before turning back to Kamski. "What did you do to her?"

"I thought I'd be nice and move her out of the basement and into my room. I'm sure it's much more comfortable than being cuffed there. However… I had to ensure that she wouldn't go running off." He calmly walked up to them with a button in his hand. "This switch ensures that she will not leave. If she does, she'll die."

I shook fearfully in Connor's arms, wondering if this was it. I was going to be stuck here or I was going to die.

"I'm sorry, Connor," I cried. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get us into this."

What had I done?

"It's alright, Artie," he told me. "There is nothing to fear. I will get you out of here."

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled, again, holding him as tightly as I could.

"Enough of that, now," Kamski interrupted. "Come here, Artemisia."

I glared at him. "Why would I listen to you?"

He smirked, pressing the button.

The shock went through my body, until Connor shouted for him to stop.

"You know what you have to do," Kamski chuckled, waving the small, black device that was keeping me imprisoned in this dreaded place.

Reluctantly, I slipped out of Connor's arms and slowly made my way to Kamski. I swallowed hard, staring into his icy, blue eyes.

"Well?" he prompted, tilting his head.

I looked down at my feet, nervously shuffling them. It felt as if I was a small child with no choice but to listen to him. Of course, I knew what he wanted. He had made it no secret that apart from using me as leverage to lure Connor here, he had other nefarious things planned for me.

With a deep breath, I tilted my head back up and on tippy toes, I pressed my lips on his.

There was an exclamation from behind me, but I remained there with his arms around me. I felt disgusting, especially in front of Connor. I didn't want him to see me like this.

"That's it," Kamski purred against my lips.

I could feel something nudging my stomach as he nibbled my bottom lip. My hands instinctively tried to push him away, but he roughly seized them in a bruising grip.

"Let her go!" Connor shouted.

I didn't want him to see me like this…

Stop looking at me, Connor…


	105. Sumo's First Day at Work

**SUMO'S FIRST DAY AT WORK**

Gavin stared at the captain in absolute shock. "You've got to be fuckin' kidding me! There is no way I am working with that plastic fuck head!"

Captain Fowler glared back at him. "Yeah? Well, you either work with him or you're not going to be working here at all!" He wasn't going to allow the detective to bully him. Gavin Reed had been getting on everyone's nerves as of late. The deviant revolution had only escalated it. Jeffrey refused to allow his subordinate to try to bully him.

Gavin let out a string of frustrated sounds before turning to the android that was patiently standing by the door with his hands clasped behind his back. "Look, _you_!" He mashed his finger against the android's chest. "Just because you're working here now, doesn't mean you'll be making any calls and don't even _think_ that we'll ever be _friends_."

"Of course," the android pleasantly replied. "I am aware of the order of commands and will be prioritising everything correctly. There is no need to be concerned. Artie has made me to be perfect."

Gavin angrily pushed his new partner to the side as he stomped out, barking at anyone who even dared to look at him from their cubicles.

Sumo turned to the captain with a smile. "Have a good day, sir."

Jeffrey sighed. "Good luck. You'll need it, buddy."

"Thank you."

With that, Sumo followed Detective Gavin Reed outside to where he was gulping down his coffee. "Would you like another one?" he asked.

"Fuck off!"

Sumo sat down in his newly assigned cubicle, contently looking around and wondering when it was going to be personalised like everyone else's. Even Connor had a couple of photos tacked on to the side cork board. He wanted a photo of Artie on his wall, too.

He walked over to the printed and uploaded the image of her before printing it out. The picture wasn't on photo paper, but he wasn't picky. The resolution was still nice.

After quickly cutting the image with a perfect white frame, he searched around for something to stick the photo to the board. "Excuse me, detective. Do you happen to have a thumb tack I may have?"

He waited for a response, but received none, so he spoke a little louder. "Detective reed, do you happen to have a thumb – "

" _No,_ " Detective Reed hissed. "Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to a tin can."

"I would like to inform you that I am not made of tin. In fact, I – "

"I. Don't. Fuckin'. Care."

Sumo leaned back in his seat, wondering why the detective hated him so much. He hadn't done anything to offend the man. He had been nothing but cordial, but he guessed that that was to be expected. From Connor's memories, he remembered how Gavin Reed hated anything android. There must've been some underlying reason. Perhaps an android had done him wrong in the past? Or maybe he had been influenced by all the protestors and their propaganda.

That was sad. Perhaps he could help Detective Reed realise that androids really aren't that ad.

He peeked over the divider, spotting that the coffee mug was nearly empty.

Activating his stealth mode, he snaked his hand around and quickly snatched up the ceramic object without alerting his partner.

He smiled to himself as he went over to the break room to refill the man's drink. He had detected no sugar, milk, or cream, so he poured it straight from the coffee maker and made his way back to his cubicle.

When he was stealthily trying to replace the mug back on the detective's desk, an arm suddenly swung out, hitting his arm, and causing the beverage to go spilling everywhere.

"Fuck! What the Hell are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?! Useless piece of junk! Fuckin' worthless!" Detective Reed roared.

Everyone stared at them.

"I apologise, detective," he stated. "I was merely trying to give you your coffee. Allow me to clean up the mess for you."

His attempt at trying to alleviate the situation failed. The detective hastily left to clean up in the washroom and Sumo remained, trying to wipe up the mess that he had not intended to make.

He was going to have to consult Artie regarding this situation. It had gone less than smoothly.

Several other officers tried to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong. Sumo was appreciative of the gesture and told them such.

Most of his other coworkers were very kind to him, but the only one he really wished to get along with was his partner.

By the time Detective Reed returned, he had cleaned up the pool of coffee and was waiting quietly at his own cubicle, sneaking glances at the man who was still angrily glaring at him.

"I apologise, Detective Reed," he stated.

If only the detective was as agreeable as Artie, but perhaps Sumo would be able to change his mind like how Connor had changed Hank's mind. Even though the lieutenant was still very gruff and outwardly irritated most days, everyone could tell that he had grown to like androids.

"Hey, fuck head!"

He looked up to see Detective Reed addressing him.

"Get me another coffee!"

Surprised by the request, he hastily did as he was told and was happy that the detective didn't pour it over his head.

What a wonderful start to a wonderful friendship.

This wasn't going to be as hard as he thought!


	106. A Sticky Situation

**A STICKY SITUATION**

I flopped on to my back, staring at the ceiling and wondering if the heat went on, I was going to melt and slip through the cracks of the hardwood floor.

If only someone else was here with me, they'd be able to cool their body, so I could just stick to them all day.

As it were, Connor and Sumo were still at work and Simon was out grocery shopping. The small fan blowing in my face was the only thing keeping me from having heat stroke.

Sluggishly, I reached over to the room temperature glass of water. The ice cubes had long since liquefied, just like my brain.

Not being able to handle it anymore, I grabbed my phone and keys and handed to the shops myself. At least they had air conditioning there!

Actually, the car ride was quite pleasant as well. Maybe I should move somewhere with central air conditioning because the cool air in the vehicle was already putting me in a better mood.

Once I was in the shop, I headed straight for the freezer. It was relatively empty, but I spotted a box of blue raspberry flavoured popsicles at the very back of the shelf.

Delighted, I grabbed it and went to pay. The poor checkout clerk looked as if he didn't want to be anywhere near there, but he didn't understand what it was like outside. It was horrible. It was a war against heat.

On the way home, I was feeling a lot happier with the blue popsicle in my mouth. T he yummy sweetness was the perfect cold treat to keep me content.

And that was how they all found me. Sumo and Connor ended up bumping into Simon and they arrived together.

"Welcome back!" I called out to them when I heard the door open before slipping the lolly back into my mouth.

Connor was the first to appear. He walked into the living room where I was lying on the couch with the ceiling fan still blowing in my face. "Hello, Artie." He smiled.

I popped the icy treat out of my mouth and let out a yelp when some of the melted juice dripped on to my cheek. "Hey, Connor! You guys are home early. Good day?"

When I didn't receive a reply, I lifted my head to see Connor staring blankly at me with his LED glowing a deep red.

"Connor?" Was there something wrong with him? Maybe the heat was also affecting his system. I was going to have to look into it. He was supposed to be able to withstand very high temperatures.

He took one step forward and then, in the next second, he was hovering above me with his elbows on either sides of my face.

"C-Connor…?" What was he doing?

He leaned in closer and closer. I thought he was going to kiss me, so I closed my eyes, but then, something smooth ran down my face.

My eyes snapped open to see him with his tongue still sticking out. His LED turned yellow as he processed the substance on his sensor. Then, he looked over to the blue wand that was quickly dripping, leaving a sticky trail down my arm.

"There is a large percentage of high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavouring, - "

I pulled him into a kiss, tasting the blue liquid still on his tongue.

One thing led to another and suddenly, I had a leg around him and his cock gliding along my slit, lubricating himself before he thrust in. I couldn't really remember when exactly I had lost my pants, but his cooler body immediately sent mine into ecstasy.

I didn't know what had gotten to him, but I wasn't complaining.

As he was pumping quickly inside me, the popsicle still in my left hand ran along his neck as I tried to grab on to his shoulder.

I moaned, feeling him hit that wonderful spot that made my toes curl.

Suddenly, my snack was plucked out of my hand and I stared into Simon's deep, blue eyes. He ran it along my lips with a smile on his face.

I opened my mouth, sucking at the half-melted phallic item, staring back at him as I did so.

When I bought the icy treats, it was never meant to be sexual, but it had definitely turned out that way.

He slipped the popsicle back out and glided it down the centre of my body, leaving a bright blue trail. It was then that I realised why they were so affected by this.

Connor stopped and leaned away, watching with lust-filled fascination as Simon swirled around my bundle of nerves. He even brushed it up Connor's member, painting it blue.

"Ah…!" I clenched my eyes shut, feeling myself right at the edge, but unable to reach it. "Please… Please… Please…"

Simon kissed me, letting the popsicle melt on my stomach as Connor resumed his rhythmic motion.

It didn't take long to finally reach the release I craved and he swallowed the scream that came out of me.

When Connor pulled out, I let out a long whine, but his tongue on my body kept me appeased. He took his time cleaning me up of the sticky mess, but left his equally blue juice in me.

"Mm…" I hummed, wishing that I was in bed so that I could just cuddle and bask in the afterglow.

When Simon stepped away, I saw Sumo still standing by the threshold with wide eyes and a red LED.

Noticing that he was found watching, he robotically walked away.

"I think we broke him," I whispered to Connor.


End file.
